The Space Between
by Labrynth
Summary: Raine seeks help to find missing kids.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: First Wave and its characters belong to the usual suspects. Raine and the story belong to me. Takes place after season three probably won't make much sense if you haven't already read Million Miles away (AKA Blood Never Lies). 

For my First Wave Fic folks who actually found Raine to be an interesting character and who didn't stone me to death even when the story took a turn that even I didn't expect.

I don't usually break stories into parts, but this one ended up so long that for loading purposes I did.

*******

The Space Between

The gunfire erupted all around them and Cade swore. Bullets whizzed through the trees even though no other people or aliens could be readily seen. Trees surrounded the small clearing. Rock was on one side jutting up from the rough ground. When he had hiked into the area to wipe out a few Gua, he hadn't planned on getting caught in the crossfire of some strange Gua against Gua shootout.

But he was.

Worse was that Jordan was also in the middle of it. They were currently huddled against a small rock outcropping amid the rubble on the larger rock formation. Dirt flew into the air just off to their left and the red head let out a colorful curse of her own.

"We're never gonna get out of here Cade," she ground out as the bullets continued to buzz past their heads. Some flew past close enough that they could feel the breeze the rushing metal created.

"Tell me about it," he muttered in reply as he stuck his head up over the rocks they were hiding behind, hoping to find a route out.

Only a few yards away, the Gua stood and raised his gun. Cade expected the agony of a bullet to hit him at any moment, but instead the alien began to scream. In less than a minute the body flashed red and the enemy was gone. Neither of them had fired.

"What the?" he heard Jordan ask behind him.

"Look, ma, no hands."

The familiar female voice didn't belong to Jordan. Cade spun around, his gun at the ready. She stood there, hands held up in front of her, a slight smirk on her face.

"Raine?" Cade blinked and slowly lowered his gun. It had been almost a year since he'd seen her. The last time she had nearly died, her blood staining his hands. He still had nightmares.

"Last time I checked anyway," Raine smarted. Waving a hand around the area casually she asked, "You ready to get out of here, cause I'm really not in the mood to get shot again."

Jordan looked at the female through narrowed eyes. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded of the other woman.

The smirk on Raine's face grew slightly and she looked at Cade. "I thought she'd be more impressive." Jordan began to sputter but Raine ignored her. "Part of a big prophecy and all that."

Wisely Cade ignored the barb and turned to Jordan. "She's a friend. And she came in, so obviously she can get out."

"Indeed," Raine agreed with a brief nod. Turning on a heel she headed for the tree line behind them. "Come on if you're coming. We don't have all day."

Tossing a quick look around the area, Cade followed. Apparently the Gua Raine had killed was the only one close enough to worry about at the moment. He didn't want more to worry about. He wanted out of here. A lot. With a jerk of his head, he motioned Jordan to follow.

When she hit the tree line, Raine looked at them. "Stay close," she instructed. "It's not far, but I don't want you lagging behind. I'm not sure how far the illusion extends. These things are still a little hard to control."

"Illusion?" Jordan asked in a baffled voice. She looked to Cade for clarification.

"We'll explain later," Cade assured her, not taking his eyes off Raine.

The air around them shimmered slightly. Directly above them came the first solid change. A small area that looked like a puddle of liquid formed over their heads. It was as if the color had been sucked out of that small patch. Quickly the patch seemed to melt down, flowing until it touched the ground within a handful of seconds. The internal side of the ball seemed to glow slightly, shifting in a strange play of lavender light. As they looked out, they found that all colors were muted, leaving the world many shades of gray with just a hint of their true color.

With faintly glowing violet eyes, Raine looked at them. "They shouldn't be able to see us coming, but the" she paused a moment, struggling for the right word, "force field will keep any stray shots out. Like I said, it's not far."

With that she began to move, taking the ball of muted color with her. They followed.

*******

"You've been practicing," Cade noted as Raine navigated the SUV over the rough terrain.

"Yeah," she admitted. "After the last time I decided it was something that would probably behoove me to do."

"Nice," Cade told her with a smile. The smile faded and he jerked a few Kleenex out of a box in the center console. "I see you haven't gotten rid of that little problem yet."

Raine said nothing as she took the tissues from him with one hand and wiped the blood from her upper lip. "It's better actually," she said softly, her concentration still on driving. "Doesn't bleed as much. Still bleeds but usually only on the big stuff." Raine glanced in the rearview mirror at Jordan. "There's more ammo in the duffle bag in the back. I don't know if you guys need to reload or not."

Jordan frowned slightly, then nodded. Slipping from her seat belt, she turned and leaned over the seat, rummaging through the promised bag. She let out a grunt as the Blazer hit more rough terrain and she was bounced around.

"I thought about you the other day," Cade confessed. A slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Not all of his thoughts made him see the blood on his hands.

"I know." Raine couldn't stop the grin. "Your thoughts carry. If I didn't already need the help, I might have tracked you down for the fun of it."

A frown pulled his mouth back down, but before he could ask, the seat belt in the back seat clicked closed and a clip of ammunition was held between the seats.

"Help?" Jordan asked for him.

"Yeah," Raine affirmed, her teeth clacking together as they hit the trail out. "Got something I wanted to get an opinion on. It's. different than anything I've dealt with so far."

Cade snorted. "If it's so different it's left you hunting us down, then we're all in trouble."

"Probably," she agreed.

Without another word, they hit the highway and headed towards Eddie.

*******

"You know, I was thinking I needed a good rainy day not too long ago," Eddie let loose a smile that was even brighter than his shirt. He wrapped his arms around he girl and hugged her closely.

Raine laughed as she slid into his arms and hugged him back.

"You probably just wanted food," she teased as she pulled away.

"Well, I could do with more of your cooking, true, but I was also thinking that maybe you could take Cade shopping. The black and gray color scheme is getting old. I mean he does toss in the bright white t-shirt and blue jeans occasionally, but still." The Hacker smirked slightly.

Jerking a thumb in Jordan's direction, Raine snorted. "Isn't that her job?"

Eddie smartly swallowed any reply as Cade coughed. "You going to tell us what's going on?" he asked as he moved to her side.

With a quirked brow, Eddie looked at Raine again. "Not a pleasure trip?"

Letting out a soft sigh, Raine closed her eyes, stretching her arms about her head, fingers interlocked. As she dropped her arms she looked at her friend again.

"Afraid not. Doesn't mean I wasn't considering a visit anyway," she replied. "Just haven't had much time."

"Any cool new tricks?" the dark haired man asked as he led the way to the small house.

Raine laughed. To anyone else it might have sounded normal. To Cade and Eddie it sounded tense and fragile. "A few. Some I'm still working on."

"Can't wait to see them." With a small flourish of hands, Eddie opened the door for her. 

*******

Raine sat on the couch, curled up in a ball, her head resting against Eddie's shoulder. Jordan and Cade sat across from them, each in their own chair. 

Cade had explained to Jordan, as best he could, about Raine. He skimmed over some things, but the gist of it was there. She saved him from Cain. They had fought. She had been shot. Cade had gotten her to a hospital.

He had left out the part where he had poured himself into her. The part where his own life had sustained hers. The part where he saw the world through her eyes. Felt his heart beat with hers. Connected with her in a way that was more intimate than any physical contact could ever be. They had a melding of souls.

Raine hadn't tried to raise the issue, and Cade thought she felt the same way he did. What had happened wasn't something either wished to share. Cade hadn't even been able to tell the whole story to Eddie. Not exactly.

He was now trying to fill Raine in on everything that had happened with them while she had been away.

"After we stopped the invasion, we kinda took a vacation I guess."

"I hear the Bahamas are nice" Raine's voice was soft. The illusion earlier had obviously worn her down.

"Well, we didn't go quite that far," Cade told her. "But we did go away for a while. Did some meditating I guess."

Eddie smiled as he wrapped an arm around Raine and held her close. Protecting her. "I did what you said"

Violet eyes looked at him, slight expression of surprise was on her face. "And?" she demanded. 

"We took some time to get to know each other again." A smile crossed his features. "We keep in touch."

Raine smiled at him and snuggled close. "Good to hear."

Jordan leaned back in her seat, eyeing the other woman carefully. Had Cade and Eddie not spoken so highly of her, Jordan might have been tempted to just shoot her and be done with it. The way Cade looked at her was different than he looked at any other woman. Eddie obviously thought of the girl as a sister, as family. But Jordan couldn't be sure how Cade thought of her. A twinge of jealousy ran through her. She started to speak, but Cade continued then.

"When we decided to gather again, it took us a few weeks to decide what to do next. Kind of hard to find a new mission after fighting the same one for three years I guess." He looked away. "Then we got a message from Joshua. Mabus was dead, but the Gua who followed him weren't. Not all of them anyway. Some of them were trying to resurrect the vision Mabus had. We started taking them out. " His eyes flicked back to the couch. "There were others like Joshua others who just wanted to live here in peace. They weren't any happier about the resurrection idea than we were. They've been hard to find since they all seem to have been splintered into factions. Occasionally Gua will fight each other."

"Like today," Raine said. "Wondered what the hell was going on."

"Today," Cade agreed, "I don't think either group knew we were there to be honest. We were just unlucky enough to get caught in the crossfire I guess." Raine nodded slightly. "We started establishing a few safe houses." He waved a hand, indicating the room. "Figured it would be a good idea to have a place to go." A faint wistfulness entered his voice. "A home that wasn't on wheels."

"Understandable."

"We have a dozen or so across the country. Used some of the funds you set up for us. I'm still wanted" His voice trailed off this time. There was really no way for Cade to ever become unwanted. Maybe even if he really did expose the aliens it would make a difference, but somehow she didn't think so.

Raine chose to say nothing. There was nothing to say. No words that could repair the damage or give back what had been taken. She would have to do a little research on the whole wanted thing though.

When Cade didn't continue, Eddie picked up. "We used the identities you set up. Technically we work for one of Jordan's companies now." A shrug with the arm not wrapped around her. "On paper anyway. Gives more credence to the identities. Jobs, paying taxes, all that. We travel doing security work. Supposedly. Jordan goes back enough to keep people from asking too many questions. In the meantime we try to hunt down the Gua who want Mabus' vision to come alive again."

"No quatrains this time," Raine said softly.

"No, but it's mostly the same. News reports. Internet. Email. There's always something to look in to."

Another bitter laugh from Raine. "Always something. Too true."

Jordan frowned. The other woman seemed more than a little unstable. It made her question if Cade and Eddie's fondness for her were skewing their opinions. If she was as powerful as they claimed, then she had the potential to be extremely dangerous. Jordan didn't like that thought.

"You said you needed help," Jordan stated, "What kind of help?"

Raine sat up, letting Eddie's arm slip away from her. She scrubbed her face with her hands a moment, then looked violet eyes straight at Jordan.

"Kids. Disappearing."

"Like before? In Washington?" Eddie asked, leaning forward. 

Shaking her head, Raine replied, "No. No bodies. They're all just gone. Fourteen of them so far." A sigh. Cade could see the tension in her shoulders. "They're all missing out of one community. Police are focusing in on the day care there since most of the families are using it. They think one of the teachers there has something to do with it. She went missing too a week ago."

"And you don't think she does?" Jordan asked, arching a brow.

"She can't have anything to do with it," Raine replied, "She's dead."


	2. The Space Between pt2

"Dead?" Jordan blinked. "And how can you be sure she's dead?" 

"Cause she's been shrieking in my head every damn day since it happened." Raine couldn't keep the irritation or sarcasm out of her voice. "She knows the kids are missing and she's bitching at me to find them."

"If she knows they're missing can't she tell you where they are?" Eddie was slightly confused. Raine could hear the dead. Could communicate with them. There wasn't anything here she needed any help with.

"Sadly, no." Raine stood and stretched. The tension didn't seem to ease as far as Cade could tell, but he wasn't sure it would until the kids were found. "She's loud and hard to block out but she's also very confused. According to her, the kids were there, then not there. Even the images she's flashing don't make any sense."

"So she's not coherent?" Cade scooted to the edge of his seat. No one wanted kids to suffer. 

"Yes and no." Without thinking about the movement, Raine began to pace slowly, obviously trying to gather her thoughts. "Her memories seem fragmented almost. She was out in the yard with some of the kids. They were playing on the playground. One of them yelled something and she turned. She wanted to make sure no one was injured. When she looked back again, all the kids were there. Then it's like she blinked and one of them was gone." A frown pulled at the corners of Raine's mouth as she tried to recall memories that were not her own. "She tried yelling for Sandy, but she was just gone."

"Just disappeared in front of her?" Jordan's tone was skeptical.

"That's what I said isn't it?" Raine's reply was sharp.

Reaching out to touch her hand, Cade looked up at his friend. "It's ok, we'll figure this out." Closing her eyes, she nodded and sighed. "When did this teacher disappear? How far apart from the thing she saw?"

"Ms. Harker's been gone a week. Dead a week. She witnessed Sandy's disappearance a few days prior to that."

"And who did she tell about the disappearance?"

"As soon as it happened, she called the director of the day care and the police. Since she couldn't provide any more details, they started to suspect her. And then she disappeared."

"And now they think that she had to have done it." Eddie finished for her, his voice full of disgust. "Man, the police are so blind."

"How many kids had disappeared prior to that?" Jordan's voice was softer this time. Disappearing kids did not make her happy.

"Sandy Brighton was the twelfth to go missing. There have been two more since then. One the same day that Harker was killed and one a few days later."

"And they still think Harker did it?" 

"Yeah. They have no body and I don't know where it is either. Harker doesn't seem to know how she died so I can't help out there. The next two weren't taken from the day care itself. One disappeared from his bedroom, the other disappeared from her yard. They think Harker snuck past the patrols in the area and snatched them."

The group seemed to digest the information for a moment and then, "You said there were no bodies, but since no one else seems to think Harker is dead, that doesn't mean anything," Cade said slowly. "Does that mean you don't hear them?"

Shaking her head, Raine eased to the floor next to Cade's chair. "No. Not a peep. That's what bothers me. If they were all dead, I could hear them. Maybe not all of them, but at least one. But I'm getting nothing. And no one else seems to have seen them pass either. If they're dead, their spirits aren't here."

Eddie and Cade looked at each other.

"Quantum pocket?" Eddie asked quietly.

"That's what I was thinking too," Cade admitted, shoving a hand through his hair.

"The thought crossed my mind as well," Raine confessed. "And since I really have no experience with these things, I thought I'd talk to someone who did."

Scooting to the edge of his seat, Eddie nodded. "We'd have to find the location, isolate the entrance."

"Can it be done?" Raine asked.

"Sure." The hacker nodded again. "It's not always easy and not always quick, but it can be done. But it can't be done from here. I'd have to go there."

Relief swept through Raine. Shouldering the lives of so many children on her own had begun to wear her down. "Can we leave tomorrow?" she questioned. She feverently didn't want to deal with this alone anymore. No matter how many police were involved, she was still alone because none of them understood.

"Of course," Cade rose from his seat and hugged her close. "We'll go tomorrow. Is there a place in the neighborhood we can set up shop?"

"Yeah." Raine sagged against Cade, resting her head against his shoulder. "One of the houses had been for sale The police started setting up surveillance in it, then decided to be a bit more subtle. I've 'moved in' claiming that my husband will be coming in a few days."

"That will be perfect then." Foster ran a hand gently down her hair, down her back, coming to rest at her waist. "We, of course, have room for a quirky friend."

"Hey!" Eddie protested. "I'm eccentric, not quirky."

Raine pulled away from Cade and turned to look at Jordan. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Jordan asked.

"I'm not sure we can explain two quirky friends."

With a shrug Jordan rose, "You don't have to. I'm due back at the company tomorrow sometime. I don't have to be around unless you need me."

Raine eyed the other woman levelly. "Any help is appreciated."

*******

The breeze stirred the grass and leaves around her, but it wasn't enough to bring her mind back to her body. That part of her wandered places her body couldn't go. Listening to whispers from things unseen. She could feel the caress of a finger, the back of a hand. These people had no one else to turn to for contact of any kind. Many of them hadn't realized what had happened to them. Some had things they wanted to tie up before moving on. A few stuck around to help those that didn't understand.

Raine could hear them all. 

Sometimes the noise in her head was deafening. Sometimes it was so loud that it threatened to consume her. Threatened to drive her insane. Over the years she had learned to mostly tune them out when she didn't want to hear them. Make them a kind of white noise in her head. The static was always there, but it didn't really require that much attention that way.

But there where times, like these, when she felt that they needed to have contact. Just to know that someone was aware of them. It was those times she sought solitude so she could let her mind wander. Let her mind tune into the static and actually make sense of it.

Doing so drained her. Wore her out. But it had to be done.

There were many names for the place they were in. The place she wandered now. Some called it the Ghostlands. Some called it the Ghost Roads. Some called it the ether. Some referred to it as limbo. She didn't know if there was a real name for it. An official name if you will. But she knew the place was gray. It was a place that always seemed to be full of fog. The spirits cast their own light and their own colors into it, but they always seemed to be dimmed by it. When she sensed them, when she wasn't in this place, the colors were bright, vivid. But here they were always dull and muted.

It was no wonder there were times they sought contact with something other than grayness.

They were worried about the kids as well. The fact that none of them had seen the children pass bothered them all. Someone should have seen it, but thus far if they had, they were keeping it to themselves. Anyone who died always passed through this place. Even if they immediately moved on, they always had to pass through. In some ways it was like a hallway to the places they should be. No matter if you were going to some kind of heaven or some kind of hell, you always had to pass through the gray fog. It was the space between everything else.

But the kids hadn't. Their souls hadn't come anywhere near it as far as anyone could tell.

The feel of the breeze and the sound of the crickets slowly came trickling back to her. In minutes Raine was back in her own body. The approaching footsteps grew louder, but she didn't turn to look. She didn't need to.

"Nice night," she said as he sat next to her.

"Beautiful," he agreed. The silence settled between them. It was a comfortable silence and she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. "You ok?" he finally asked.

"Tired. Scared for the kids. But I'm ok." She smiled against his shoulder.

"You seem very distant. Million miles away."

Raine laughed softly. "I told you, I'm always a million miles away." A shrug. "Doesn't seem like you're as distant these days."

Cade arched a brow and looked at her. "What's that mean?"

"Jordan."

"Jordan?"

"Yeah. You've got something going on there."

He was silent a moment as he contemplated. "Maybe," he admitted. "I don't know."

"You're distant from her too aren't you?"

About to protest, Cade opened his mouth, but stopped. Closed it. Took a minute to consider. Then, "Yeah, I guess I am."

"Why?" Raine lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him. Moonlight reflected against violet and her eyes almost seemed to glow as they had earlier. The trick of the moon didn't make her gaze any less intense.

"I don't know," he confessed. 

She searched his face for a moment, then returned her head to his shoulder. Silence fell between them once more.

With the crickets sounding around them, Cade spoke. "You don't like her do you?"

"Jordan?"

"Yeah."

Raine's words were careful, but honest. "No, I don't."

"Why?"

Struggling for the right words, Raine pulled away from him and looked to the sky. After a few minutes she answered.

"Because she clings to it. She clings to everything that's gone wrong. Every horrible thing that's happened."

"Why shouldn't she?"

"Because if you never let it go, it becomes you. It eats you whole and you never seen it coming."

Cade was silent for a moment. Her words were much like the words Xevallah had said to him. It made him shiver.

"I told her good bye." His voice was soft, nearly a whisper. The pain was bright, but less than it had been the last time Raine had been near him.

Raine smiled into his shoulder. Looping her arm through his, she pulled him close. "I know," she told him softly. "She came to tell me good bye afterwards."

"She moved on?" The question felt like it was full of glass as it came out of his mouth.

Looking up at him, Raine offered a sympathetic smile. "She thought that if you had let go, then it was time for her to let go as well."

Cade opened his mouth to speak then stopped. He wasn't sure which hurt more knowing she had been around, or knowing that she was now completely gone.

"She loved you Cade, just as much as you loved her." Violet eyes looked into his. Full of warmth and empathy. "But she's dead Cade. Nothing can bring her back. Not grief, or anger, or pain. You finally understood that. And when you did, she knew you'd be ok."

"I know, it's just-" He couldn't finish the words.

"I know," she whispered. Shuffling so she could scoot behind him, Raine wrapped her arms around his chest, her legs around his waist, laid her head against his back and held him.

*******

The words of the argument trickled past sleep and slowly began to work their way into her mind. With a groan, she drug the pillow over her head. It was too early for this. The voices that continued heatedly didn't seem to agree however. With a sigh, she shoved the pillow to the floor and sat up. More words found their way across the air to her.

"Why can't we just use the Hammer?" Jordan's voice. High pitched and angry. "Then no one has to go anywhere with her."

"You know why," Eddie responded in a voice that indicated he was tired of explaining the same thing. "We don't know the long term effects of opening the pockets with the Hammer. It's possible doing so too often could cause a complete break down. And Pockets can lead to anywhere. There's no way to be sure we open one tot he right place."

"That's bullshit and you know it Eddie," she hissed softly. 

The tension in the air shifted. The hacker had had quite enough of the current conversation.

"No, what's bullshit is the way you keep clinging to nothing Jordan. The way you keep jumping at shadows and deciding that everyone is a threat. I hate to break it to you, but Raine's our friend. And if you don't like it then maybe you should go."

Raine broke through the doorway in time to see Eddie take a step back. The look on his face was angry. His glare was locked onto the red headed woman and it wasn't wavering. It was enough to make Jordan step back away from her friend, but not enough to keep her from turning on Raine.

Jordan whirled, facing the other woman.

"This is your fault!" she accused. "If it weren't for you, none of us would be worrying about a bunch of kids that may or may not be missing."

Shooting an 'is she for real?' look at Eddie, Raine rolled her eyes.

"No one said you had to tag along Jordan." Her voice was even, neutral. Her expression was amused. "In fact, if you're going to be so hostile, it's probably best that you don't come along." A yawn. "Where's Cade?"

Eddie could practically see Jordan's blood boil as Raine asked the question. Trying to suppress a grin he jerked his head towards the door. "Outside somewhere," he replied evenly. This was going to be quite the confrontation. Better than mud wrestling. He could make a fortune selling tickets.

Running fingers through sleep mussed hair, Raine yawned again. It was going to be a long morning. As she pulled the bottom edge of her tank top down to the top edge of the boxers she was wearing, Raine moved past Jordan. Not bothering to offer a glance at the other woman as their shoulders brushed together, Raine hit the door. Jordan was right behind her.

Jerking away before the other woman could touch her, Raine spun on her heel and faced Jordan. "What the hell is your problem?"

And the match was on.

"My problem? My problem is you. You prance in here, somehow manage to get past Gua gunfire, get us past Gua gunfire, cry and moan that you need help and somehow expect me to believe you're exactly what you say you are? For all I know you're the Gua."

Raine snorted, crossing her arms in front of her chest, managing to look bored no matter how loudly Jordan yelled. The yelling brought Cade around the corner of the house.

"Eddie?" Cade looked at his friend, his tone full of caution. "What's going on?"

Eddie waved a hand in the direction of the two women. "Battle for dominance I think."

"Huh?"

But any reply Eddie might have made was cut off by Raine's sarcastic tone.

"Riiiight. I see how this works. Save your ass and suddenly I'm the enemy." Her voice dropped to a conspiratory whisper. "But that isn't what's bothering you really is it Jordan?"

Jordan's spine snapped straight and she glared at the other woman. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she replied icily.

A patronizing smile formed on Raine's lips. "Of course not. Heaven forbid you actually have to face up to anything besides anger, isn't that right?" Jordan started to speak but Raine gave her no chance. "You can't admit, even to yourself, that what's really bothering you is that Cade I and spent the night, outside, together, without you. And neither one of us seems to be forthcoming with the details. And it bothers you that Eddie seems quite happy to have me around. Or maybe, without Mabus around to hate, you just gotta find something to fill that hate-void in your life."

Eddie leaned towards Cade, "I'm not sure I want to be drug into this, man. Witness it, sure, but not drug into it."

"Right there with ya buddy," Cade replied, taking a small step forward. "Not sure there's much we can do to put a stop to it."

"Of course they're happy to have you around," Jordan beamed, "You're Miss Polly Sunshine."

Raine smiled cruelly at the other woman and took a step forward. "You know, your brother told me you were always the jealous type." Jordan began to sputter at the mention of her lost brother, but Raine pushed on. "He often thought that once you had won the battle, maybe you'd warm up. He told me that if he had known it would make it worse, he'd have killed you then too. He's ashamed at what you've become."

"Oh shit," Eddie breathed as Cade stepped forward. Grabbing his friend by the shoulder, the Hacker shook his head. Wide eyed, he stared at the battle. "No way man," he said as he pulled Cade back. "Haven't you ever watched those nature shows Foster? Never step between two Alpha females unless you want to lose your head."

"We can't just let them go at it," Foster hissed, unable to take his eyes from the two women.

"It's been nice knowing you man," Eddie replied, dropping his hand from Cade's shoulder.

But there was nothing either of them could do.

"How dare you talk to me about my brother," Jordan spat out. Dropping back a few steps, she pulled the gun from the holster at her back. Drawing down on Raine, she looked across the barrel at the other woman. "Don't ever speak to me about my family again."

Raine laughed. The sound seemed to burn Jordan and the gun jerked slightly.

"Awww, poor Jordan gets an earful of something she doesn't want to hear so she pulls a gun." A smirk filled Raine's features. "A gun doesn't protect you from the truth Jordan. It might stop people from speaking it, but it doesn't change it."

"Shut up." Jordan warned, the gun beginning to waver in her hands.

"He's ashamed of you Jordan. He's had to watch how you've let everything that's happened ruin your life."

"Shut up."

"He's had to watch as you let Raven Nation be destroyed."

"Shut. Up."

"As you nearly got Cade and Eddie destroyed."

"Shut up!"

"As you let yourself be destroyed."

"SHUT UP!" Jordan screamed.

Then the gun went off.

Chaos broke out as the first decibels of gunfire rang into the air. Cade was in motion towards Raine, Eddie in motion towards Jordan.

Throwing up a hand, Raine didn't flinch as the gun fired. Violet eyes flashed in the sunlight and the air shimmered around her. Cade felt the change in the air first. A thickening that slowed movement. He skidded to a stop only a few feet from Raine and watched as the strange gel-like shield formed. The air took on hues of purple and seemed to thicken from the palm of her hand out. Cade could see both sides of it from where he stood and suddenly he realized that the inside glow of the bubble of illusion she had created around them the day before had been this. Protection, even inside the illusion.

The bullet left the barrel of the gun with a small flash of light, but began to slow as it neared the other woman. As it hit the violet light, it seemed to sink into the strange gel. Two inches, four, then six. Then it was still.

Snatching her hand back, Raine let the shield go and the deadly lead hit the ground with a small thud. Before anyone else could move, she launched herself across the space between them and stood toe to toe with Jordan. The red head swung at her and Raine spun with it, letting the blow miss her. The momentum carried her around and she slammed an elbow into Jordan's face. She followed closely with an elbow to the other woman's gut that dropped her to the grass. She let the knife that rested in sheath at Jordan's belt slide free in her hand as the other woman fell heavily to the ground. 

"If you EVER try something like that again, I will take you down. And I don't mean with a punch to the face." Taking a few steps back from the crumpled woman on the ground, Raine held up the knife. "You want Gua?" The blade of the knife glinted in the early morning sunlight just before it plunged through Raine's free hand. Never taking her eyes off the other woman, Raine jerked the blade free and threw it into the ground at Jordan's feet. Holding up her hand, letting the blood flow freely down her arm, she kept her voice low and steady. "There's your proof. You wanna try rubbing a little salt in it or something?" Jordan remained silent on the ground, her eyes locked on to the blood running down Raine's arm. "Now I suggest you get the hell over yourself before someone gets hurt."

Cade rushed to Raine's side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Gently leading her away, he lightly took a hold of the injured hand.

"Ow," Raine whimpered under her breath as they made their way to the door. "That hurt."

Unable to help the snort of laughter, Cade shook his head. "Imagine that. But I think you made your point."

"I certainly hope so," Raine replied, a tremor of pain running through her. "Cause I don't think I can stab myself again."

"You could mend it," he suggested as he eased her down onto the couch and took a seat next to her. Gingerly handling the injured appendage, he began to examine it.

"If I do that, she'll freak even more. As it is, she's mostly shaken up and ashamed she let her paranoia get the better of her."

Cade's head snapped up and he looked her in the eye. "You did this on purpose."

A small shrug. Enough to jar the injured hand and she whimpered again as she replied. "Better to get this over with now instead of letting it build until we actually need her."

"You knew she'd fire at you." It wasn't a question.

"Let's just say I knew which buttons to push. And if she hesitated, I could have pushed a little more." A sly, faint smile. 

"Dangerous game."

"Dangerous, true. But she won't fail us if we need her."

A jerky nod was Cade's only reply as he rose and headed to the bathroom for bandages.

*******

"That was a neat trick you pulled," Eddie said, highly impressed. 

"Thanks," Raine replied as she watched the men load a few boxes and suitcases into her SUV. She'd offered to help until Cade had barely tapped her injured hand. The pain that shot through her hand and into her arm had been enough to nearly make her pass out. Now she stood to the side, cradling the injured hand against her chest. The white bandages that were wrapped around it had a few spots of red where blood had seeped through. The damn thing throbbed like crazy.

"How'd you come up with that idea?" Eddie asked as he shoved one of the last items into the cargo area of the Blazer.

Laughing slightly, Raine shrugged a shoulder, wincing as it jarred her hand. "The people on the internet call it the Jell-O shield."

"The internet? They know about you on the internet?" Eddie blinked at her in wonder.

Raine grinned and shook her head. "Not me exactly. I can't claim the original idea." She leaned a hip against the side of the vehicle and shifted her hand gingerly. "I was watching TV one night, flipping through the channels actually. Not really paying attention. I hit this one and suddenly I couldn't change it. I kept trying but it was like my finger wouldn't move on the remote. So I finally gave up and started watching. Figured there was obviously something someone wanted me to see. Lo and behold the Jell-O shield."

A short laugh came from Eddie, and he shook his head in amusement. Life was never dull with Raine around. "So, you swiped the idea from a TV show?"

"Roswell to be exact," she replied. "Only his was green. But when I saw it, it got me thinking. So I started playing with the idea, trying to decide how it would work, and how it might work better."

"As long as it works."

"That's kinda what I thought. Of course the strange, rabid Roswell fans might try to kill me if they thought I had stolen an idea from their beloved Max." Raine smirked. "They are a strange bunch."

"I'll have to take your word for it," Eddie responded. Lifting up the tailgate, he tossed a look of warning to prepare Raine, then slammed it shut. Reaching for the glass, he pulled it down, then let it fall into place.

A small whimper of pain escaped her as the force of the closing jarred her.

"You should heal that," Eddie said gently.

"Takes too much energy," she told him softly, through gritted teeth. "Besides, it reminds me never to stab myself again."

With a chuckle Eddie shook his head. "So, you guys will get there when?"

"Tomorrow probably. You can come in the day after. You'll be with the truck of furniture and such." Frowning slightly, Raine looked at Eddie. "Is there anything left of Raven Nation?"

Taken aback by the question and the seemingly sudden change of topic, the hacker blinked. "Sort of I guess. A few people around. More trickle in every day. Most of them just want to be around people who have suffered the same kind of loss I guess."

The information seemed to turn over in her mind a moment then Raine nodded. "Think it's possible that we could get a few of them to play mover? If they've encountered strangeness before then they might see something we don't."

"I'll give Jordan a call if you want."

Raine snorted. "Better you than me I think."

Eddie couldn't possibly come up with an argument for that, so he nodded. Touching her gently on the shoulder, he offered a smile. "Take care of him for me."

Moving gingerly, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "I will." Pulling back she offered him a mischievous grin. "Here's hoping he doesn't get me shot again."

Letting out a snort of laughter as Cade came from the house with the last bag, Eddie shook his head.

"What'd I miss?" Cade asked which only made Eddie snicker harder.


	3. The Space Between pt3

Cade studied her as she drove. Her hair was still the same shade of brown it had been when he met her. It still had the same vibrant red highlights in it. The length was a little shorter than before. Her eyes were still the same strange shade of violet they had been previously. A shudder crawled along his spine when he recalled how they had looked with the color nearly drained from them. She had almost died in front of him. With a shake of his head, he tried to push the memory away. She looked like she had lost weight as well. Not that she needed to or that she was suddenly scrawny. Instead he could tell she had gained more muscle. Not an obscene amount. Just enough for him to notice. The tank top she wore certainly didn't hurt the observation. Muscles in her shoulders and arms moved fluidly as she maneuvered the vehicle through the mild traffic. 

But more than the physical changes, he could sense there were more differences inside of her. Raine was always somewhat distant. Aloof some might even say. He supposed she had to be with all the noise in her head. Now he could feel an invisible wall around her. He had thought when they parted ways last time that she had felt closer to people instead of being a "million miles away" as she had put it. He wondered what had changed.

"I told you what we've done since the last time we saw you. What about you?" he tried.

A slight shrug of the shoulder nearest him. The other shoulder would jar the wounded hand that was resting in her lap. Her gaze flicked to him quickly then returned to the road.

"The usual. Wandered all over the place listening to the voices in my head."

He smiled with her on that. "At least life isn't dull."

"No, can't claim life is ever dull around me."

She said no more and he couldn't think of anyway to find out what he wanted to know that didn't involve a level of bluntness that he wasn't quite comfortable with. So he said nothing.

"I got asked to go through the Academy," she finally offered into the silence.

"Police?"

"Yeah. The St. Louis police offered me a full time position if I wanted it."

"Wow," Cade replied, dully impressed. "Why didn't you?"

She hesitated a half a second before responding. No one else would have noticed, but he did. 

"Having a home would be nice," she admitted. "But I've still got things to do. I wouldn't be able to be a full time officer. Not like they wanted anyway."

"Makes sense." Cade knew there was more to it than that but didn't push. "What were you doing in St. Louis?"

"Serial rapist," she replied as she flipped on the blinker with a wrist instead of a hand and headed for the exit that was rapidly approaching. "He was getting more and more violent. Nearly killed a woman before they called me in. He'd been cutting them for a while."

Cade frowned slightly. "Why did they wait so long?"

Raine shrugged her good shoulder again. "The usual. There was no way a so called psychic could possibly help them."

With a snort Cade shook his head. "Somehow I'm not surprised. So you haven't bothered explaining your gifts?"

"It's just easier to let them assume I'm just psychic. They can pretend they understand that. It's a little unorthodox, but people are used to psychics helping the police these days."

She slowed, preparing to turn into a gas station. Handing him a pair of sunglasses from a tray in the console she spared him a glance before she turned in.

"No point in holding a neon wanted sign over your head." The engine died with a turn of the key as she came to a stop next to a pump on the far end of those available. "We'll have to make some changes before we get there."

"Changes?" Cade echoed as she climbed out of the Blazer.

She simply flashed him a smile them swiped a card through the reader. "You're going to have to pump. I'm not sure I can do it all with one hand." As Cade rounded the back end of the vehicle, "I'm going to pee." She looked at her bandaged hand. "Maybe."

Then she headed for the bathroom.

***

A few people took note of her as she moved across the parking lot towards him. One man seemed to memorize her entire backside. Cade felt a pang of something he couldn't quite name. The bandage on her hand seemed to be more spotted with crimson than before. She held the hand gingerly, close to her chest. Just the impact of walking made it throb and she gritted her teeth. Shaking his head, he wondered again why she wouldn't just heal it. Her face was several shades paler when she finally reached him.

"Bathroom visit not go so well?" he asked airily.

"You could say that," she replied dryly. "This whole bathroom thing was easier in a pair of boxer shorts."

Cade chuckled. "You didn't have to change on my account." He grinned at her scowl. "I take it you want me to drive for a while?"

Raine snorted at him. "It's a thought." She jerked her head towards the building. "Go if you're going. I'm ready to be done with this so I can lick my wounds in private."

The door of the Blazer opened smoothly and he peered across the hood at her. "Nah, I'll wait till we're somewhere a little less public." He slid easily into the driver's seat. "Maybe next time you'll think twice before getting all showy about things."

"Tell that to your 'paranoid as hell and psychotic to boot' girlfriend," she retorted. "If she hadn't been such a bitch about things then maybe I could have made my point another way."

He shot her a look. A faint smile played at the corners of his mouth. "I'm not sure which should offend me more. The girlfriend crack or the psychotic crack."

"Take your pick," she muttered as she eased into her seat. "Truth hurts."

*******

The blood seeped through the white gauze bandage as he began to unwind it from her hand. He could hear her teeth grind together with the pain even though he was being as gentle as possible.

"Why do I always end up wounded around you?" she ground out between clenched teeth. Taking a second to crack an eye open she quickly closed it, hissing in pain.

"It's part of my charm," he replied, the joke not nearly as light as he had intended. People got wounded, or killed, a lot when he was around.

Blood oozed from the wound, shiny and wet in the light. The skin around it was angry and red. It was also severely swollen and hot to the touch.

"Maybe we should have a doctor look at this," Cade worried. If the wound had shown any improvement it wouldn't bother him so much. But more than 24 hours later, the wound was still as raw and angry as moments after the knife had plunged into her skin. "This looks like it could be getting infected."

She cracked an eye open again. "Ick," she grunted. "We'll put some antibiotic cream on it and wrap it again. I have some antibiotics in one of the bags."

Not looking forward to wrapping it back up, he stalled while he dug through the first aid kit she carried for what he needed.

"You were sick?"

"Huh?" She blinked at him.

"Antibiotics. Most people don't carry them around for fun."

Again the hesitation was brief but noticeable to him. "I got injured in St. Louis. Just a scratch. Better safe than sorry and all that."

"Mmm," he answered noncommittally. "We'll add an extra gauze pad. Maybe the padding will keep it from being banged around."

"Wrap it tight," she told him, "Pressure to stop the bleeding."

"All right." He put the items on the console between then, glancing at the deserted rest area parking lot. The last thing they needed was some overly helpful highway patrol officer wandering over. "Where are those pills? I want you to take one now."

"In the carry on. But wait until we stop for food. If I take them on an empty stomach it makes me-"

A convulsion cut her off. Her head slammed back against the headrest. Feet drummed against the floorboard as hands flailed in the air. The violent spasms left no part of her untouched.

"Raine!" he yelled. Alarm soared inside of him.

Her injured hand smacked the center console. The items he had placed there scattered and blood spattered the dashboard. More was flung about as her hands sought something unseen in the air. The wound flowed freely now, sending fat droplets of deep red to the knee of her jeans. The fabric sucked up the liquid rapidly and it spread across the faded blue.

Cursing, he reached for the wrist of the injured hand. As if sensing him, the hand jerked away. As it hit the side window blood splattered on the clear glass. The hand slid leaving a smeared trail with it. Cade rose out of his seat part way, reaching for her hand once again.

This time he caught it.

And instantly felt as if a sledgehammer had impacted his brain.

Every muscle in his body contracted with brutal force. His heart stuttered in his chest. Lungs struggled to pull in air. It felt as if a million volts of electricity coursed through him.

Voices and images were like distant memories. Muted and grayed with time. The edges of them faded to nothing.

Children's voices filled the air. Screams and giggles rang out along with the noises from the playground equipment. They ran around the lot, unaware it was about to happen. With a zoom lens in his mind's eye he focused in on the swings. A boy of about ten pumped his legs. Blonde hair shone in the light and his green eyes were filled with a happiness that only children that young can have.

"Mom!" he cried gleefully, "Mom! Watch me!"

The boy pumped his legs one more time. When the swing surged forward he let go of the chain. His giggle rang out as he flew through the air. His descent was controlled and he flashed a smile to his mother sitting on a bench only a few yards away.

Then he was gone.

An instant before his feet touched the ground, the air swallowed him whole.

His mother's scream shot through his brain like needles full of acid. The zoom lens was gone and his vision seemed to rush backwards, pulling him away from the playground. People were still rushing to the mother's frantic side when it all went gray.

Mist swirled around him and he wondered if he had been sucked back to that place an alien warrior had once shown him. He expected it to feel cool against his skin, but instead he felt nothing from it. Directions couldn't be made out and he realized that he couldn't feel his feet under him either. A strange sense of panic slowly started to burn inside of him at being so disoriented. Gossamer shapes faded into and out of view around him. Fear cut through the panic.

Like a firefly, a deep emerald light blinked before him. Slowly it began to gather more light unto itself until it was the size of a small person. Green light shimmered and the mist seemed to clear from it. Suddenly he could feel Raine's presence next to him but he seemed to have no body with which to reach out to her.

Voices started then. They sounded as if they were coming from another room. Muffled sounds that rose and fell as if in conversation. He could hear the sounds but he couldn't seem to make out the words.

A shimmer of violet light that he recognized as Raine started to glow next to the green. The sounds made no sense to him but the feelings did.

Raine was angry and frightened. He could feel the guilt around her as she blamed herself for not stopping it from happening. She was also in pain. He couldn't say what kind of pain exactly, but he could feel it nonetheless.

The green light was simply terrified. Scared to the point that nothing else came through. It was like a black wave threatening to break over him, sucking him under.

Anger was cooled slightly and he could feel Raine try to soothe the green light. After a moment he could feel the terror recede. It was replaced by images that meant nothing to him. More light of various colors being hurled through this colorless place. Feelings of fear and confusion accompanied them. Other emotions and visions brushed against him like a butterfly's wings but they were faint enough that he couldn't quite grab a hold of them.

Then he was being hurled across the mist. As if shoved, he exploded back. His grip on Raine's wrist was broken. He felt the door handle digging into his back.

Shudders wracked her body. Her gaze was distant. When she finally looked at him it was as if she didn't really see him.

"You ok?" he asked softly.

A slow, small nod. "I think so," she replied quietly. But her voice told him otherwise.

Her eyes moved to look at her injured hand in stages. It was held just above the knee. Large drops of blood continued to fall to the now scarlet knee of her jeans. The flow was at least slower than before which was a relief to Cade. Unfortunately, however, the wound was an even brighter red now. Previously the hole had been smooth; the wickedly sharp blade had cut clean. Now the edges were ragged as if it had been ripped open instead of cut.

"We need to get in bandaged again," Cade told her gently as he slowly reached for her arm. A surge of electricity went through him when he touched her, much like the shock of touching a doorknob in winter. A small whimper escaped her at the charge but her eyes remained fixed on the blood spreading across the denim.

"Blood never lies," she murmured.

"No, it doesn't," he agreed. Still holding her wrist in a hand he reached out with the other. Gently he forced her head to turn until she looked at him. "This is getting worse. You need to heal it."

Her voice was still far away. "Can't heal yourself. Nothing big anyway. Takes too much energy."

"Raine," he called her name softly. "Where are you?"

Her eyes were glazed. She was facing him, but she wasn't seeing him.

"The playground," she whispered in that odd, detached tone. "I can still see him."

Fear thundered inside of him. "Is he dead?"

"No" She trailed off and he resisted the urge to prod her. A frown creased her brow. "He just stops."

The grip he held on her wrist tightened. "What do you mean stops?"

The frown grew deeper and she reached out into the air with her good hand. As if she were touching something, her hand moved along a smooth path then abruptly stopped.

"His aura. It's here. Then it just stops."

"But he's not dead?"

"No he was taken. The air just swallowed him."

"What does that mean?"

The hand dropped back down to her lap. Grayed violet eyes blinked rapidly. Finally she looked at him.

"I'm not sure." Her voice was weak but she was really with him again. "But I know what his aura looks like now. What it feels like."

"Yeah, so?"

"Maybe I can track it."


	4. The Space Between pt4

They stood a moment in the entryway of the mostly empty house. To Cade it felt as if no one had ever really lived there. It didn't have the feel of a home. It was just a house. A place to pass through. 

Raine pointed to the right. "Kitchen," she mostly grunted. With a small bag slung over her shoulder she went towards the back of the house, leaving him standing in the darkened foyer.

Taking the bags of chinese food towards the kitchen he noted that the living room was empty of furniture. The kitchen, however, held a small wooden table. Four matching oak chairs surrounded it. A cheap plastic drying rack was on the counter next to the sink. It held a few plates, cups and a couple of items of silverware. After setting the food on the table, Cade put the plates and silverware next to it. After a moment of consideration, Cade grabbed one of the big plastic glasses as well.

When Raine joined him she was dressed as she had been that morning. Blue cotton boxers and a gray tank top. He came close to asking her how she'd managed to get into new clothes but one look at her hand told him.

It was slowly oozing blood once again. Without the pressure of bandages it never seemed to completely stop. The angry red color was shiny in the light. When she moved closer he could see that the swelling had increased. The red seemed to radiate from the wound, slowly creeping towards her fingers.

Dumping a handful of items to the tabletop that had been clutched between her good hand and her chest, she looked at Cade. "Need to wrap it again," she told him as she pulled two pill bottles from the waistband of her boxers and plopped them on the table as well.

"What are those for?" he asked as he carefully applied antibiotic gel to the wound.

"Antibiotics," she hissed, "And a pain killer."

He paused looking up to search her face. "What do you need pain killers for?"

A snort. "What, you don't think I'm in pain?"

"I think," he started calmly, careful to keep his tone neutral, "that they don't give painkillers like that without a damn good reason."

Violet eyes met his. The defensiveness crept between them, slowly rising up like a wall. Finally she nodded curtly. "Finish wrapping and I'll tell you."

Finished, Cade pushed the pill bottles towards her. Taking one of the sodas from the six pack he opened it then upended the can into the plastic cup. She didn't look up as he pushed the drink towards her. Instead she kept her eyes down to the bottle between her knees. She wrestled with the childproof lid with her good hand, grumbling under her breath.

"Want some help?"

"Nah, I got it." She held up a bright yellow capsule in triumph.

"You want the others?"

Raine shook her head. "I hate those things," she confided, indicating the analgesic with her head. "They're worse than being drunk. Fuzzy up your head. Like my head needs help with that."

From the corner of his eye he watched as she washed down the yellow pill with soda. Without a word he dug into the bags of take out and divided up the food properly.

"Tell me," he requested when they were finally settled.

"Serial rapist from St. Louis," she replied before taking a bite. "He was running rampant."

"Cutting women up I think you said before."

"Right. He started off just raping them. Then he started cutting them up. He had struck a dozen times before they called me. They were worried he was going to kill his next victim. He snatched her off the street a few hours before I got the call. She was dead before I got there."

Cade felt his blood grow cold. "He didn't"

"No." She shrugged, her tone mild. "He wasn't interested in me. I wasn't really his type. He was more into blondes."

Food offered a distraction as he tried to let her continue at her own pace. After a few minutes she started again.

"We finally tracked him down to an old loft."

"We?"

"Aaron and I," she replied. Her voice was enough to let him know that Aaron had been more than a mere coworker. "He was the lead detective on the case. The person who called me in." He could see her mentally shake herself. "Anyway, we tracked him to one of the old lofts that were being rented in the warehouse district. It was storming. Lots of thunder and lightning.

"At first we didn't think he was there. But then I felt him. Back up was called and we decided to go in."

Cade protested, "But you're not a cop!"

"No, I'm not," she agreed between bites. "But I can take care of myself. And we really didn't have a lot of time to go over options."

He nearly protested again but managed to hold his tongue.

"We were inside and he snuck up on us. He managed to knock Aaron out then he turned his attention to me."

"I thought you said he didn't-"

"Oh, he didn't rape me. I wasn't kidding when I said I wasn't his type. But that didn't mean that cutting me into pieces wouldn't be fun."

"Oh God."

"He slammed me into a wall. Totally blindsided me. Didn't see it coming. My head bounced off the cinderblocks. I thought I was going to pass out. He must have thought so too because he risked turning me around to face him. Then he cut me."

She rose abruptly at that, picking up her dishes. At the sink she rinsed them and set them in the other side of the stainless steel sink. He could see her hands tremble but wisely chose to say nothing. Taking a minute to stare out the window over the sink Raine tried to calm her nerves. After a moment or two she turned back to face him and leaned back against the counter.

"The back up was close. Both of us could hear the sirens. He grinned at me and told me that they wouldn't be fast enough to save me."

"What did you do?" he asked quietly.

"Kneed him in the crotch." A small smile slipped onto her face at his laugh. "Then I made sure he was out. When the back up got there I was passed out. They brought the ambulance around and took me to the hospital. I woke up a few days later. He cracked my skull when I hit the wall. Managed to break a few ribs as well. So they gave me some painkillers. I guess a few broken bones and some bumps and bruises warrants some drugs when they happen in the line of duty."

Cade started to speak, but at that moment she turned and the light caught the flesh of her abdomen. And the white-pink scar there. She pulled the edge of the tank top down when she saw where his eyes were.

"It's not as bad as it looks. Really," she offered.

His voice was hoarse. "Come here."

Slowly she shuffled across the linoleum floor until she came to stand in front of him. His hand shook as he reached out for the edge of the material. Hesitantly he lifted it. The bullet wound she received while blowing the Gua installation was about the same height as her belly button and nearly centered between her side and her navel. Even though he was there when the wound happened, had even healed it with his own hands, it still rocked him.

But it didn't rock him nearly as much as the jagged pink line that ran from a few inches below the old wound, up through it and across towards her left side. It nicked the upper edge of her belly button and stopped just below the low point of her rib cage.

The monster hadn't merely tried to cut her. He had tried to gut her like a fish. Rip her intestines out while she watched. He didn't have to rape her to defile her.

With fingers that trembled in the air he reached out and traced that line. He opened his mouth to speak but suddenly he was pitched back to that moment in time.

***

Lightning lit up the large, dirty gray building as she stared at it. The miserable drizzle that had fallen all day turned into a full-fledged downpour, cutting off words as she started to speak. Thunder rumbled overheard and she could feel the tremor from inside the patrol car. Casting a glance at him as the lighting flashed again she could see that he was as unsure of the place as she was.

The warehouse district was becoming more and more trendy. The lofts inside were rented at inflated prices to people for whom looks meant a great deal. But their guy wasn't interested in trendy. He just wanted private and isolated. Even the trendies hadn't come this far into that part of town so he had gotten exactly what he wanted. It did make hunting harder. Pretty young blondes didn't usually come this way. Finding them and getting them back to the loft was part of the challenge now.

"Are you sure this is it?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.

He peered out the windshield again and nodded slightly. "The loft at the top has been rented under one of his aliases." He smiled at her. "All of which came from leads you gave us."

She blushed and looked away from him. He had been gushing about her since they had met. Of course he had been the one to bring her in amid the skepticism. At first it had been to help assure his superiors they had done the right thing. But along the way it had developed into something else. They had developed into something else.

Turning her attention back to the building she hoped he hadn't noticed the blush in the strobes of lightning that were happening every few seconds now. The storm was escalating quickly.

With a deep breath she closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. Somewhere deep inside she hoped he wouldn't be there. That they wouldn't have to go in. She wasn't sure why that hope had sparked inside of her, but it had. Shoving it away, she tried to tune out the static on the police radio and tune into the static of her own head. The white noise that was always in her head was much dimmer than normal. Concentrating, she tried to give it a boost. Then she let her mind float across the space of the street and to the building. The wave of thought recoiled when it touched the slimy, black aura of the structure. The part of her that was still inside her body was aware of the whimper that came from her at that contact. Of his hand sliding across the seat to gently cover hers. Taking courage and energy from that contact she shoved through the darkness. Once inside she tried to feel the energies. Tried to ride them. Even if she could get an impression of the place, that would help. But all she got was the feel of the natural open space of a loft. She frowned and he noticed.

"Not getting anything?" he asked softly, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Storms mess me up," she admitted in a distant voice. "I think it has something to do with all the electrical energy in the air." A small smile played on her face even though she didn't look at him. "Of course it's not exactly a hard science so I can't really be sure."

Lightning flared again. When it fell away she felt it. Her breath caught in her throat. Gingerly she tried to poke it. Get a sense of it as a whole. But it was dark. The kind of dark that wasn't just an absence of light. It swallowed light. It was cold and greasy. Churning around her.

He could see the change in her. "Hey Let it go. We'll call in someone else to watch."

The warmth of his hand leaked into her. Pressed back against the darkness. But she still felt it as it slithered down her spine.

"We can't do that," she replied, her voice still distant. "He's getting antsy. He's going to strike again soon." A pause as she tried to feel for a time. A sharp intake of breath. "Tonight."

A dark brow rose skeptically. "In this mess?"

"It's not ideal," she agreed, "But it can make it easier to bring them here." Her voice shook. "Oh God. He rapes them here. Cuts them here." A whisper now. "The need keeps building. He has to do it soon."

"Is he in there then?"

"He's there."

Letting go, she returned to herself.

"He knows we're here."

She could see him cursing himself silently. The patrol car had given them away. Their man would be even more cautious than usual knowing they were around.

"We need to call for back up," she said.

"Maybe we can wait him out? If he really does feel the need to take another one tonight then he has to come out sometime."

"He knows the building better than we do. The whole area. He won't bring her back here now." She sighed. "And I can't track him in this storm. He'll slip us easily."

Aaron swore loudly then. Desperation swept across his face.

"You can't go in there," he told her.

"You can't very well go in there alone."

"We'll wait here for back up. If he sees us down here then he'll hesitate to leave. SWAT can go in after him."

She said nothing. She knew what he was thinking. Hell, anyone who had ever simply been around a cop knew what he was thinking. If they waited he could very well slip away for good. He had already had more time than he should have to prepare for them. Their hesitation could easily get someone killed either way.

"You're a civilian," he reminded her. "If I take you in there, I could lose my badge."

"You'll lose more than that if you don't," she warned quietly. Her hand slid across the vinyl seat to cover his. "If you want to wait for back up, then we wait for back up."

The decision warred within him. She could see the emotions flicker across his face. With a show of lightning came a flash of understanding. He didn't care about going in. He just didn't want her there. Didn't want her within a ten-mile radius of the place. A bad feeling had started and was growing rapidly. Cops trusted their feelings. Now he was risking her or risking more deaths.

"We both know we can't wait," he didn't like it. He didn't have to like it. "But you're going in armed."

"You know I'm a crappy shot," she reminded him as he called in for back up.

When his request was complete he replied, "You've gotten better. Hopefully you won't have to use it anyway."

She accepted the small 9mm and holster he pulled from the small of his back. Thunder drowned out all other sound as she tucked the weapon into nearly the same spot he had kept it.

"Back up will only take a few minutes to get here," he assured her. "We just have to stall him." Aaron's fingers twined with hers. "Be careful in there."

She offered him a rare full smile. "Don't worry about that."

Cop superstition kicked in when he opened his mouth to say more. Doing so would only jinx the whole thing.

At his nod they both left the car. Rain instantly soaked them as they hurried across the street. He took the lead at the door, kicking it in and doing a rapid sweep. There was some consideration given to telling him that she could have opened it a little more easily and quietly but it was something he didn't know about her and she really didn't think it was time for such revelations. She followed him in, crouching low like he indicated.

The bottom of the building was empty. Open space. Broken windows allowed the sickly yellow light from the unbroken streetlights to fall in but it didn't do much good. Static electricity from the storm danced along her skin making it tingle. Another time she might have welcomed the chance to experiment. Now it was just distracting. They paused along a wall.

"Two ways up," he told her, indicating the stairs just in front of them and the elevator behind them. "Which one?"

Once again she reached out with her mind. Carefully it crept up the stairs, floating along the currents of air to the top. She drifted to the door and lightly stroked it trying to feel him through the metal. Even though he felt far away he beckoned her closer. Her mind snapped back to her body.

"I think he's clear of both. He wants us to come up."

"Kinda makes an argument for staying here doesn't it?"

With a slight grin she nodded in agreement.

"Why can't it ever be that easy?" he wondered aloud.

"Because they're laws about putting fire escapes on these buildings?"

"Smart ass."

"Usually," she recognized. The banter helped her hands to stop shaking. She wondered if it did the same for him.

"When I get up to that first landing, then you start up," Aaron instructed. The rusted metal stairs looked rickety at best. If they were lucky the whole thing wouldn't collapse under them. "There's no way we can be quiet, so let's just be fast."

She nodded once as the flash of light managed to penetrate the grime to illuminate the massive empty space. Thunder overrode his first steps onto the stairs. When he hit the designated landing she moved swiftly up the steps behind him. After hitting the top of the stairs, a well placed kick sent the door she had touched earlier flying. The frame splintered sending shards of wood in all directions.

The whispering started then. Very quiet. Very insistent.

_I don't have time for this_, she thought.

But it kept coming. Used to splitting her attention, she followed the cop while she tried to understand the sounds in her head. Normally she didn't have to make much of an effort to hear it and make sense of it. It was mostly a matter of focus. But with the storm, focus wasn't enough. The information didn't come to her like it normally would. Instead it came in jagged pieces. Sometimes a few words. Sometimes a smell or an image. During storms she had to actually string these things together to make sense of them. Deciphering the information that storms scrambled required actual effort and concentration. Something she really didn't have time for at the moment.

More lighting lit up the room so they could see where they were. The door they had come through led to a small hallway. Cinder block walls were on both sides of them. The hall opened on the right. A closed door was on the left.

They moved silently, each keeping their backs to the wall. He held his gun tightly, pointed towards the ceiling. Absently she reached behind her. Fingers brushed the body warmed steel. She wasn't a great shot but the feel of it did make her slightly more relaxed. Easing the gun from the leather holster she mimicked Aaron's grip on it preferring two hands to his one.

Fear spiked within her as they reached the end of the short wall. She shouldn't be here. The feeling hit her hard, but she wasn't sure if it was Aaron's feeling that were infecting her or the voice that was still persisting in her head. With a mental shake she shoved the thought aside. She was already here. Now she would have to do whatever it took to keep them both alive.

Easing around the corner of the short wall he motioned her to follow. When she rounded the stone she could see the rest of the loft.

Unlike most loft apartments, this one still had a few walls. Some of them rose all the way to the ceiling and some were merely half walls that came to about her waist. It was enough to make her wonder if this floor had held offices at one time. She could see some furniture scattered about as well when the next flash hit. A large sectional sofa. A few chairs. Three bookshelves full of books. A desk holding a computer in one corner. The head of a shower could be seen about the walls that were six feet tall in her estimation. In the corner opposite the computer desk was a closed door. Mostly likely an office at some point. Walls rose completely to the top and they both assumed it was a completely contained room on its own.

She was drawn to it even as the voice in her brain became louder.

The gun drifted to her side as the pull forced her feet to cross the room. She could hear Aaron hiss something to her but she was already in that place where the outside world had little influence.

The door appeared gray to her in the meager light but she felt it actually held some color. With a shaking hand she pressed her fingertips to the cool surface.

"He does it here," she whispered. "There's blood. Rivers of it. I can feel it."

The voices in her head rose to a fever pitch. 

A small thump behind her made her turn.

The shadow loomed over the prone form on the floor.

"Aaron!" she screamed. The sound echoed around them.

Then he was coming towards her.

Spinning on a heel she started to run. But she wasn't fast enough and he slammed into her like a linebacker. The door gave way under the force of their weight and he continued through the room taking her with him. Cinder block met her head and she groaned. He threw her into the wall again. Stars flashed behind her eyes. Darkness was filling her head and she clawed at it, desperately trying to keep it from taking over. Something slammed into her side. The cracking sound brought another moan from her.

Dazed, she tried to orient herself. He would kill her. She knew that. The voices in her head screamed at her to fight back, now having forgotten the warning they had been trying to give her. Do something. Anything.

The darkness offered her a place away from the pain. It was so very tempting.

Her body was being turned then. Her mind fought the darkness, reaching for a familiar sound.

Sirens.

The back up they had called for was coming. They were close. She had a chance.

Almost as if he could read her thoughts he leaned in close. His face was blurry but it struck her as handsome. Deep brown eyes drew her focus. There was mint on his breath.

"They won't get here in time to save you."

He grinned madly at her. One arm was at her throat, holding her to the wall. Something glinted in the strobe of lightning from the other hand. From the corner of her eye she could see the gleam from the blade of the wickedly sharp fillet knife he held firmly in his hand. He was going to slice her open and play with her insides.

She knew this.

The steel point plunged into her skin. Searing pain nearly sent her spiraling into the darkness, out of control. Then it began to move. And then it hit the scar tissue that was already there.

Power flared to life within her even as the blade continued to carve her up.

He was laughing. The smell of blood filled the air. Eyes snapped open, glowing violet.

"Son of a bitch," she hissed at him. "You fucking cut me."

Laughter died on his lips just as she drew her knee up and drove it into his groin.

As he fell to the floor the blade slid from her skin, catching once on bone. It skittered across the floor leaving a trail of shiny wet blood drops on the gray, painted cement.

Smiling cruelly at him, she bent down. Electricity filled her as more than a dozen bolts of lightning rained down from the heavens consecutively. The charge grew until her hand snaked out for him. A finger touched the skin of his forehead and his body jerked with spasms of electricity. When his eyes rolled back into his head she broke the contact.

He was still.

Abruptly she realized she still held the gun in her hand. She stared at it blankly a moment before casting it aside with a flick of her wrist.

Then she sank to the floor, the darkness rising up to meet her.

***

As suddenly as he had been sucked into the memory he was cast out.

His breath came in shuddering gasps. Her face was pale when she looked at him. She tried to swallow, couldn't. Cade ran a finger across the scar one more time before looking at her.

"Aaron?"

"Out cold. Bastard had tried to cave his head in with a brick." Pulling away from his inquisitive fingers, she took a step back. "Mostly tore skin. Gave him quite a concussion. Probably would have finished the job after he had killed me."

"Most likely," Cade agreed. "And after?"

At first he thought she was going to play dumb. But that really wasn't her style. Instead she shrugged.

"A few visits while I was in the hospital. Told me they decided not to take his badge for letting me go in."

He prodded, "And?"

"And we decided to end it. I decided not to go to the Academy. Not to stay in St. Louis." The pain was in her voice. "He didn't want to look at me anymore. So he stayed away until I left."

"He couldn't look at you," Cade told her softly. He met her eyes. "He nearly got you killed and he couldn't deal with that. And he couldn't deal with the fact that he made the right call about going in. The right call, but it still went horribly wrong."

Her tone was unconvinced, "If you say so."

"He couldn't save you and it eats at him."

Something smart-ass was on her tongue but she held it. Instead she studied him for a minute. Then, quietly, "Just like you couldn't save Hannah."

"Like I couldn't save Hannah."


	5. The Space Between pt5

The upstairs was as bare as the downstairs. Two of the four bedrooms were completely empty. The master bedroom held a queen-sized mattress that rested on the floor and a few piles of clothes and towels. 

"Looks like you stayed a bit," he commented as he stood in the doorway.

"A few weeks. Spent time trying to get a feel for the place. Tried to see if I could wrap it up quickly. And if I couldn't then I wanted to establish my cover."

Two of the suitcases they had brought with them sat in a corner. Cade eyed the room warily as if he expected something to bite him. His thoughts were apparently loud because she answered.

"Relax Foster. This house is clean. A family had it built just before the kids started disappearing. Once that happened they decided they didn't want to move in. The only person who has been here is me."

"The cops don't have it wired?"

"No. I told them I find it distracting. So I check in with them every so often instead."

A glance to the bed. "And what did you tell them about me?"

"Told them I'd be bringing in a few friends to help," she replied casually. "Friends who understood how all of this worked." A smirk. "They think I brought in someone from the FBI."

He couldn't stop the snort of laughter. "Not FBI." Her eyes were already watching him when he turned to face her. "There's a chance they'll recognize me."

"Not really," she told him. "I took care of it. At least locally anyway."

"What did you do exactly?" He couldn't help it. She had him curious.

With a smile she flopped the distance to the mattress. Since it was resting on the floor she had a way to drop. Unfortunately the landing jolted her hand even though she had held it in the air during the fall. She let out a small hiss of pain before she answered.

"I redid your file." The words came through clenched teeth. "They gave me access to everything so I could study the weird that is this case." Gently, slowly, she lowered the hand to rest on her stomach. "I switched fingerprint records and photos. Most cops depend on computers for their information. Chances are if they seen you and become suspicious they'll look it up and find a picture of someone who closely resembles you."

"And if someone has an old poster?"

A small rise in her good shoulder. "Then we deal with it when it happens."

Fir the first time since Cade had known her, an uncomfortable silence fell between them. Or at least it was uncomfortable to him.

"The computers are down the hall," Raine offered. "I set up a few. Figured Eddie would want to bring his own in too. We've got four DSL lines coming in so we should be good. Tried to get at least a T1 for him, but no one wanted to foot the bill for it." He grunted in response. "Master bath is behind that door," she told him indicating a door with a finger. "Towels and stuff in there." A yawn. "I'm going to sleep. We've got things to do early tomorrow." A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. She thought about making him ask but decided to put him out of his misery.

"This is the only bed at the moment. Don't worry. I don't snore. And it's not like we haven't slept in the same bed before."

*******

She sat in his lap, straddling his legs, facing him. Her body was close to his. Close enough he could feel her body heat. Her eyes weren't looking into his however. They were intent on their task.

The fumes made his eyes water. Her wounded hand lay in her lap between them. The other hand squeezed the bottle of hair color, squirting the foul smelling gel on his head. After setting the bottle aside she started working the color through his hair. The process had gone on way longer than necessary as far as Cade was concerned. But the lack of use from one hand made it slow going and when he'd offered to just do it himself she had muttered something about him being a man and messing it up.

"Man that stuff is vile," he complained as she squirted more color on his hair.

"Not the most pleasant smelling thing in the world," she agreed. "But it will give you a slight change." Her eyes met his as she paused and flashed him a broad smile. "If I had known we'd be doing this we could have tried it the more enjoyable route. You know, sand, water, mixed drinks with little umbrellas"

"I'll remember that for next time," he grumbled.

"You do that Tiger." She smiled knowing that Eddie would have gotten the Spiderman reference and thought it funny.

Running a gloved hand through his hair to make sure it had all been covered, Raine leaned in close.

Suddenly the smell of ammonia and peroxide were non existent. Citrus and ginger, the smell that always came from her skin, wafted to his nose. Her neck was close and Cade had the urge to place a kiss on that spot where her neck met her shoulder. Her hand slid down the back of his head as she leaned back on his lap and smiled. Words died on her lips as his expression of longing hit her.

"Cade?" His name came out as a strangled sound.

With a will of their own, his hands slid against her back. One worked its way under the cotton tank top she wore to bare skin. The other was in her hair pulling her mouth to his.

A soft whimper came from the back of her throat. The sound pierced something deep inside of him and the dam holding back years of need crumbled. Passion surged inside of him and he willed it to spill into her the same way he had willed his own life into her.

Aware of the injured hand between them he didn't pull her closer even though he wanted to. Hell, he wanted to strip away her clothes so that there would be nothing between them. Instead he settled for pulling her upper body closer. Her breasts brushed against his chest and he groaned into her mouth.

When his tongue slid past her lips she felt the first stirrings of power. The energy he had poured into her that had saved her still resided deep inside of her. A tingle started in her lower belly and shot out, down through her legs. She didn't think she could stand even if she wanted to. Heat flared under her skin.

He felt the power inside of her when it sparked to life. It knew him, was still a part of him. He wanted to reach inside and touch it. Be buried inside of her and let it flow around him.

The injured hand snaked up his chest and moved to lie over his shoulder. Freed from that obstacle, he cupped her butt and jerked her against him. Her heat pressed through both pair of boxers. It felt as if it had a weight of its own. His body reacted to hers.

He was hard under her. She wriggled against him, wishing there was nothing separating them. Wishing he would plunge deep inside of her. Touch the spot that tingled with wanting him.

Her fingers were clawing at the elastic waist of his boxers when the timer dinged.

As if she had been shot (again), Raine jerked back. Her breathing came in deep, ragged gasps. The power reached out, urging her to make the connection. On shaky legs she stood and stepped back out of arm's reach.

"We n-n-need to-" she stumbled over the words and pointed a finger at his head. "Rinse it out before it burns." The words were rough. Filled with the need she felt. Lamely she held up the wounded hand, the other was searching for something to do. "You'll have to get in the shower," she nearly choked on the last word. "Rinse until the water is clear then put this on." She tossed him the small conditioning bottle from the sink. "Let it set a few minutes before washing it out." A shaky smile as she refused to look at him. "Viola - surfer dude blonde." Her good hand toyed with the edge of her tank top nervously giving him flashes of scar and smooth skin. "Yeah," she stuttered as she bolted for the door. "I'll let you get on that."

Raine fled the bathroom.

***

The water clung to his skin as he tucked the towel tightly around his waist. He didn't pause to consider anything past the first few words of his apology. With a soft squeak the door swung open and he rushed out.

"Raine, I-" he started only to be cut off by the picture of her sitting on the bed.

She sat on the edge with one leg bent indian style on the mattress. The other leg stretched out and down extending behind her slightly to the floor. The wounded hand was in front of her, elbow on her knee. Hair spilled down her back. Sunlight shone through the windows, the beams of light causing the strands it touched to burst into brilliant reds and coppers. The tank top dipped lower than usual giving him a full view of cleavage.

But it was the expression on her face that made him pause.

Bafflement mixed with amazement as it flitted across her features. She scowled at the hand she held in front of her. Even from his place across the room he could see the difference.

When they had gotten up that morning the wound in her hand was still jagged and raw. The angry red color was practically glowing. The swelling had increased leaving most of the palm and back of her hand shiny. Red radiated from the open hole in all directions. It had climbed to the first knuckle on all her fingers. Cade had wondered again, out loud, if they should find a doctor.

Now the hand was no longer red and swollen. The edges of the wound were closed. Color was normal aside from the deep pink directly around the wound itself. Gingerly she fisted the hand then opened it once more.

"It still hurts. Deep inside. Like bruised bones," she told him in bewilderment. "But not like before."

"So I see." He took a few steps toward her.

"I came out here to unwrap it. Let it breathe before I showered and wrapped it up again. But there wasn't any blood on the bandage." He noticed the slightly rumpled white gauze strip on the carpet at her foot. "Then I saw it. It was healing. Fast enough I could see it."

"How is that possible?"

She looked up at him. "I don't know," she said softly.

Then it flared to life between them again. A connection demanding to be made.

Raine rose from the bed slowly, a mixture of confusion and relief on her face. The combination didn't make a lot of sense to Foster but he couldn't gather his thoughts enough to question it. All he could do was feel.

And all he could feel was her. The pull of her was more than he could resist and in a few steps he was across the room. Hands found their way to her hair and hauled her close. She was ready for him. When their lips met her tongue slid across his bottom lip, pushing what little reason still remained in his head out the window.

One hand glided along her face, fingertips taking in the feel of the silky texture of her skin. The other hand was busily trying to find more skin to touch. Her hands left trails in the water on his back, fingernails lightly scratching his skin as they went. When her hands reached the edge of the towel he grasped her hips tightly and hauled her as close as possible. Her hands wound around his neck, fingers searching for purchase in his hair. A groan came from deep inside as her body collided with his. The pull in his hair as he kissed her neck might have hurt if his mind had been capable of comprehending such a thing.

Instead the feeling made his grip on her hips tighten, grinding her roughly against him. She let out a whimper of desire. By taking a step back he forced her legs to connect with the edge of the bed. The tank top began to annoy him and he grabbed it at the straps resting on her shoulders. Pulling it down away from her, he caught the shorts she wore on the way down and let them drop at her feet. His hands slid from shoulder to elbow to wrist as he knelt in front of her. From wrist to waist he whispered fingers against her skin. Pressing his cheek to her belly, he could feel the scar from the blade like a line of ice against his face. Every other inch of the skin around it burned. The connection flared with an internal fire that felt like coming home to him.

Her fingers were in his hair again and she held on as he kissed his way along the scar. The wetness of his tongue against the old wound that had nearly killed her made her jump slightly. Her entire body hummed where his skin touched hers. Water on his skin went from cool in the air to boiling the longer he touched her.

"Cade," she whimpered when his tongue delved into her navel.

"Shh," he hushed against her skin.

Gently this time, he grasped her hips again and urged her back to the bed. She eased down to sit then fell back when he gave her a gentle shove.

Legs stretched out forever around him and he slid a finger from hip to toe. He hadn't noticed the creamy red nail polish or the thin, double banded toe ring on the second toe of her right foot before. The sight of them sent a bolt of desire through him. He played a finger over the delicate silver a second. Then the scent of her skin rose up to meet him for a second time that morning. Placing a gentle kiss to the inside of a thigh, he rose to his knees.

Heat swelled inside of her until she thought she might catch fire and explode. The kiss to her inner thigh ripped a groan from her throat. But when he slowly slid a finger inside of her, her whole world became filled with him and the sensations he induced in her.

She was slick and hot and ready for him when he eased a finger inside of her. The sound of his name coming from her in a breathy sigh made him even harder if such a thing were possible. Her scent mingled with the citrus he always associated with her. With a teasing flick of his tongue he tasted her.

Her body arched as his fingers and tongue worked at her. Tingling sensations rose from deep within until they were the only thing left. Muscles jerked and spasmed as the tingling exploded, sending shards of fire hurtling through her. The spasms tightened her body around him. A small smile formed as he watched her ride the waves he created in her. When she began to come down and opened her eyes he rose.

The towel fell away of its own accord as he moved over her. Carefully he eased his weight onto her. She hungrily accepted his kiss as he slid himself inside of her. He began to move within her and she breathed his name again. Her legs found their way around his waist and fingernails scraped down his back and over his ass. He could still feel spasms from her climax as he drove himself into her. The feeling was enough to send him over the edge quickly. As he spilled himself into her, he whispered her name, burying his face in the side of her neck.

Ever so slowly they became aware of the world again. Cade slipped off of her and rolled onto his back. Tenderly he gathered her in his arms and held her close.

*******

"Well, isn't this an interesting turn of events."

The amused voice only got a few words out before he was reaching for the gun he always kept under his pillow while he slept. He came up empty about the time he realized it was Eddie speaking to him. Old habits die hard.

Cade cracked an eye open and let out a soft groan. Slipping his arm out from under Raine carefully so as not to wake her, he looked at his best friend.

"What are you doing here already?" Cade grumbled. At that point he noticed that Raine's naked back was exposed dangerously low. He tried to look nonchalant as he pulled the sheet up hoping the action didn't draw more attention. "You've got a few hours."

Eddie grinned at him like a maniac. The loud print shirt made Cade squint at him which in turn made the scowl much less effective.

"Foster man, it's past noon." The grin actually grew. "Nice hair. Think I could go sun kissed blonde?"

"Eddie?"

"Yeah?"

"Go away." Cade raised himself off the bed enough to see the alarm clock on her side of the bed. With another groan he flopped back to the pillow and flung an arm over his eyes. "I'll be downstairs in a few minutes."

Raine murmured something in her sleep that sounded a lot like the Twice Blessed's name.

Eddie continued to grin like an idiot. "The moving van will be here in about 45 minutes." He paused at the door. "Take your time."

The hacker laughed at the look his best friend shot at him and closed the door quietly.


	6. The Space Between pt6

She was still cranky when she entered the kitchen a few hours later. But at least she was dressed. The denim shorts and simple sleeveless cotton knit top was a change from the last time Eddie had seen her. The girl was like a sister to him. But she wasn't actually a sister, so that meant he didn't have to feel like a perv for enjoying the view of tanned legs and bare feet. 

Cade thwapped the back of the hacker's head with a scowl. Unfortunately it just made Eddie grin. Cade rolled his eyes.

"Would you two stop it already?" she growled at them.

"I didn't say anything!" Eddie protested.

"You didn't have to," she muttered and tossed him a pointed look. The dark haired man had the grace to blush.

Puling up a chair, Cade shook his head. Raine joined them with a glass of chocolate milk in her hands.

"Hand looks better," Eddie observed. When she offered no comment he continued. "Good sex is a cure for anything I guess. 

He face flushed a deep read. Cade coughed as he managed to swallow his coffee instead of spewing it all over them and the table.

"Sometimes literally," she finally said, not meeting either's eyes.

"Literally?" The hacker's interest was now piqued. "You didn't do it yourself?"

"Not exactly," she replied. The chocolate milk must have been the most interesting thing ever because she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from it. But she didn't give either of them a chance to speak. "Latent energy from the last time."

With a baffled look he asked, "The last time you and Cade had sex?"

"The last time he healed me." The sour look she gave him and the tone of her voice both had giant neon "dumb ass" signs in them.

"I see," he replied. But he was already whipping out a laptop. "That might explain the energy surge last night then."

"This morning," Cade said quietly. "Early."

Raine's face was scarlet again.

"This morning?" Fingers flew over the keys as Eddie frowned. "How early?"

With a groan she started to answer, but Cade cut her off. "Early. Six or so. We wanted to get the hair dye done before anyone showed up."

"Interesting." Fingers continued to move over the keys and the change of light and color on his face let them know he was looking at varying screens.

Unable to take the silence, Raine spoke. "What's interesting?"

He didn't respond at first, but once he got to the screen he apparently wanted he spun the computer around so they could take a look at the display.

The image there was clearly a map of the area. Red and green dots of varying intensities started appearing on the image in various locations. It reminded Raine of the time lapse lightning strike maps the news weathermen always used during active storms.

"What's this?" Cade asked as he studied the moving map.

"Since this morning I've been downloading some information. The government has a lot of satellite info of every kind about this area." He didn't take time to examine that piece of news. Eddie reached around the black case and tapped a few keys. The map cleared and then the colors started again. This time the spots of color were only green. "This is a record of the electromagnetic energy in the area." He tapped a few more keys. The green was gone. Red was the replacement. It showed up in nearly the exact same pattern as the green. "These are bursts of energy. I can't seem to find out exactly what kind of energy, if I had to guess I'd say electrical of some kind, but no one seems to have an explanation for them."

Raine studied the pattern another minute then looked up. "What's the timing on these two things? Are they happening independently?"

A few more keys brought forth the first map again with both colors.

"Most people think they're happening at the same time."

"You think otherwise?" Cade questioned.

"My calculations have the energy bursts happening a few milliseconds before the appearance of the electromagnetic anomalies."

"So you think the anomalies are being caused by the excess energy that seems to be in the air"

"Partly," Eddie answered the question. "But I think it's only half of the picture. Somehow the electromagnetic energy was changed here. It's not reading the way it should for this area." He looked between the two of them. "I think this might be the result of someone trying to open too many Quantum Pockets here."

"Gua?" The question from Cade.

"I don't know yet. But since they're the only ones we know of who can do it on command it's a good bet." Spinning the computer back around Eddie brought up a new screen. "The records for the area indicate that housing didn't go up here until about five years ago."

Raine acknowledged the fact. "It's a fairly new part of town. A big draw because it's away from the rest of the city, but not far from the amenities a city can offer."

"If you look back to the beginning of the development, you start to notice a few things.

Once again he turned the computer around so they could see the screen. Both read the notes quickly. Cade let out a low whistle.

"It's been going on a while," he said quietly.

"Even before people were here." Eddie hit a few keys to bring up a new document.

"The wildlife," Raine said. "Sparse in the area since the early 80's." She continued to read. "Ever since a west coast company bought the land."

"Bingo," Eddie told her excitedly. "The company passed themselves off as some kind of R&D division of Johnson & Johnson. They moved in here in 1981. They didn't move out until seven years ago. When they did, they sold the land back to the city who was hot to develop it."

"So the Gua decided to run some kind of portal experiments here then back out. Why?"

"Easy," Raine said before Eddie could answer. Her mind was racing with the information the hacker had uncovered. "The city was growing. Coming closer and closer. The don't like to be watched."

"Makes sense," Cade agreed. "But why are people noticing things missing now?"

The dark haired man leaned back in his seat. "The area is more populated now. There are just more people to fall into the portals that are popping up. But if you look, there are reposts of a lot of missing pets. They passed it off as wild animals. This was still close to nature then. They also had a few other things disappear. A mailbox for instance. Everyone thought it was some kind of teenage prank, but it was never found. Part of the playground equipment that was first placed in the park. No one ever figured out how they managed to make off with it without being spotted. There are also a few people who went missing then.

"But now there is a large concentration of people here. Especially in places like the day care and the playground."

"It seems to be moving, why? They don't usually do that do they?" Raine worried.

"No, that's not normal," Cade replied. Absently he reached out to touch her hand. The contact seemed to reassure her.

"I've got a few theories," Eddie said. "First they were working on early experiments for the pockets. We don't know how long they've been using them. They possibly lacked the control over them they have now. Wasn't sure how to anchor them to one spot like we've seen them do in the past. Maybe everything was fine until the energy blips started.

"Second, with so much energy around maybe the whole thing just destabilized. Maybe they had one here they were using but the energy caused it to be unpredictable. It doesn't have an anchor or the anchor isn't as strong as the energy itself."

The sat in silence a minute digesting the information.

Finally, "So you're telling me that all these kids have gone missing just out of back luck? Wrong place, wrong time and all that? No big bad?" Raine looked at the computer screen in disgust as if it might be held responsible for the problem.

"Pretty much," Eddie acknowledged.

She let loose a string of curses. Cade sat back in his chair, processing everything, only half listening to her tirade. Something inside of him wanted to go to her, to try to calm her down. But something else was coming together in his head and he didn't want to let go of it just yet.

"Is there any untouched land left? Any land that might have held a building?"

The swearing stopped. "A few acres of wooded area. But that's it as far as I know." She looked to Eddie who nodded in agreement. "The cops searched it when the first of the kids started disappearing, but they never found anything there. Why? You've got something happening in that twice blessed mind of yours."

He was silent for another moment simply gathering his thoughts. Then, slowly, as if he were sounding the ideas out loud, "The pattern seems to be random. But we know the surges of energy precede what appear to be portals by a little time." Both of his listeners leaned forward. "What if the area's magnetic fields were interrupted by experiments, but these energy spots are setting them off, creating the portals." He paused again. "Is it possible there's still something left of the installation that might be causing the energy? Could it project that energy?"

Excitement flashed across the hacker's face as he snatched the laptop and began typing.

"Oh I'd say it's more than possible," he enthused. "I thought I had sort of a pattern going until the extra energy spot appeared." He looked between them pointedly. "It's a pretty loose pattern, but"

He swung the computer around again. As before the map appeared with the spots of color. This time however, there was also a timer.

"They're going off at regular intervals," Raine noted. "Mostly."

"Every 12 hours," Eddie agreed. "Though over the past few days the bursts seem to be happening more frequently. Still fairly predictable, but the change is still there."

"Why do some of them appear to last longer than others?" Cade questioned.

"I'm not positive," admitted Eddie. "It might have something to so with the amount of energy being released." He pointed to two spots on the map. One was very dark, the other was more of a tint than a spot of solid color. "The intensity seems to vary but I haven't found a pattern to it. It's also possible that the electromagnetic fields are more disrupted on the shorter stays."

"If something is causing the energy then maybe it's starting to fall apart?" Raine suggested.

"It would make sense," Cade considered. "I guess they could have thought they shut it off but somehow didn't manage it."

"If it's powered with something that degrades with time then maybe the energy source has just degraded to a point it's unstable," offered Eddie.

"Eddie," she started and he looked at her. "Is there anyway to see where a building was before they sold the land?"

"Well, we could pull up satellite photos," he said thoughtfully. "But I'm not positive how many years they go back for this area. We should also check the building permits and construction notes for the land. See if they tore anything down when they started putting stuff up."

"Wouldn't those be in a computer somewhere?" Raine asked.

"Maybe not. It depends on how they handle that stuff. Sometimes it's all paper until someone gets around to entering it, which can take years."

"All right," Raine said as she rose. "Start looking for images. Cade and I will see if we can dig up some paperwork at the library. They should have those record, right?"

"Sometimes. And sometimes they store things like that at City Hall," Eddie replied with a cringe.

"Great. City Hall," Cade muttered. "I love City Hall."

She whacked him in the chest with a hand. "I told you it'll be fine."

"They sometimes put police stations in City Hall," Eddie warned, "Or close to it."

"Doesn't matter," she assured him, "I took care of it."

"How?" She told him and he blinked. "Why didn't I think of that?"

*******

Raine approached the desk with a friendly smile plastered on her face. Extending a hand to the woman behind it she spoke, "Hi, I'm Ashley Sloane," she said as she shook the woman's hand. Looping an arm through Cade's she pulled him forward. "This is my husband Michael."

"Oh!" the other woman smiled. She was older. Someone you thought of when you pictured a librarian except she had a warm friendly smile. "I'm Esther Robbins. I'm in charge of the library here. You're the new family that's moved in. "

"We are," Raine enthused with a grin. "Michael just got in last night." She winked at the other woman. "Took me forever to get him out of bed this morning."

Cade blushed lightly and the woman chuckled. Both of the women ignored him as he made a protest about too much driving.

"Isn't that always the way it goes with men?" Esther said in a conspiratory tone to Raine.

Her eyes sparkled as she laughed. "You are so right," Raine agreed.

"Well, now that you're here, what is it I can help you with?"

"We're really not sure we're in the right place honestly," Raine confessed. "We were hoping to get a look at the building permits for our area." She touched Cade on the hand with a slight smile. "We wanted to check out a few things before we decide to buy." A slight shrug and a sheepish smile. "He tells me I worry too much but with the cities building houses over sink holes and such I say you can never be too careful." Cade gave her a polite smile that said that had been through this discussion a number of times. "Besides, before we have kids we want to be settled in for a while. Make sure it's the right place for us and all."

"Oh, kids!" the older woman exclaimed. "I have three daughters of my own. My youngest just gave me another grandson."

The librarian continued to gush but Cade had tuned her out. The talk of children had rocked him. He had a child once. But the child Jordan conceived while possessed by Mabus didn't mean much to him. Even if the baby had been more than a husk Cade wasn't sure he would ever be able to accept it. Much like a rape victim, he didn't think he'd ever be able to look at it without reliving the circumstances that had made it happen.

So it wasn't the child he had helped create that got to him. It was the child that had never been.

Hannah had wanted kids. They had seriously discussed it only weeks before she was killed. While he had often thought of Hannah and their time together, that was one thing he had always avoided thinking about. It tore into him in ways even her death couldn't.

As if sensing his thoughts, he felt Raine's fingers slip into his. With a squeeze she smiled at him. "Honey? Are you day dreaming again?" she asked with just enough mocking to make him look at her. Concern was in her eyes as well as a good dose of sympathy.

He forced a smile and squeezed back. "Just thinking about names," he responded. "I'm not sure we'll ever agree on one," he confided in Esther.

She laughed. "My middle daughter and her husband couldn't come up with a name they could both agree on until my granddaughter was almost a month old!"

"Well," Raine smiled, "I think I want something more uncommon like Gavin or Reese. He wants something more traditional like James or Daniel."

"Sure it will be a boy then?" the librarian asked with a knowing grin.

Cade moved behind Raine and slid his arms around her waist. He pulled her against him and rested his chin on her shoulder. A bright smile slid into place on his face as he hugged her close.

"Oh it'll be a boy," he assured the woman. "I'm positive it will."

She laughed and winked at him. "I'd think of a few girl's names if I were you. Just in case."

Pulling free of his embrace, Raine lightly slapped his shoulder. "What is it with men always wanting a son first?" she asked with mischief in her eyes.

Again Foster pulled her close, this time laying a light kiss on her mouth. "It's not a matter of wanting dear," he told her. "It's a matter of knowing. And I know we'll have a son first."

"I think we'd better get to work on those permits before this goes any further," Rained winked at Esther. "Thank you for all your help."

"You're welcome dear. If you need anything else, let me know."

Once again her hand slid into his and she started to pull him away from the desk. "I will," she said over her shoulder. "Thank you again."

Esther was still waving to them as they rounded the corner.

Slowly she allowed her fingers to slide from his. She continued down the hall to the door the helpful librarian had told her to find. After swinging it open she started down the stairs.

"Have you ever thought about it?" he asked curiously.

"Thought about what?" She shot him a confused look over her shoulder.

"Having kids," he answered.

With a snort she shook her head. "Don't you think I'm a bit too young to be worrying about it?"

"You're not _that_ young," he told her wryly. "Plenty old enough to have kids."

Stopping short on the stairs she turned to look at him. "Younger than you." She flung just a little too heatedly.

"True," he agreed, "But that fact isn't winning your argument."

Raine rolled her eyes. Her agitation was far too high for the conversation at hand in his opinion.

"Don't you think my life is a little too chaotic to have to worry about a kid?" Her tone was demanding with the question but softened with her next words. "Besides, what if any of my children ended up like me?"

A brow quirked slightly. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm a freak remember?" The heat was back in her voice. When she closed her eyes he counted to ten with her. "Besides," she told him calmly, "it doesn't matter anyway."

"Why not?"

She paused on the stairs once more but didn't look at him this time. "Scar tissue. They don't think I could ever carry a child to term. Or long enough for it to survive."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Scar tissue I got by nearly being gutted. You think I could being a child into that?"

"No," he answered. The pain and bitterness in her voice cut him deeply. "But this won't always be your life will it?"

"Will your life always contain the Gua?" she asked pointedly. Before he could answer she continued down the stairs.

An apology was in his throat but she didn't give him a chance to get it out. Instead she pointed to a door and grunted a "there". Obviously the conversation was over.

After she closed the door gently behind them she looked around the room. A large rectangle table with a fake wood top was to their right. Metal folding chairs surrounded it. Another door was across the room straight ahead of them. To the left were rows and rows of metal shelves. Each shelf was covered either in loose paper or boxes full of documents. Cade hit the overhead fluorescent lights and even more rows of shelves became visible. She groaned.

With a sigh she glanced at him. "Well, the good news is that all the stuff for that year should all be together." She eyed the rows of paper with irritation. "The bad news is that there's no order to where the years have been shoved."

*******

Papers and boxes filled the table. Raine rubbed her face with a hand, smudging dirt across her chin. Raising her shoulders, she tensed the muscles tightly then let them fall. Her ass was numb and she wasn't sure if she could go get another box without feeling the need to slit her own throat. They had been at it for hours and found nothing. Once she had tried to seek guidance from the spirits that followed her, but they knew no more than she did about the location of what they wanted. Dead didn't mean all knowing apparently.

"Hey!" Cade was nearly out of his seat with excitement. He ignored the protest of muscles that hadn't moved in hours. "I think I found something."

Dropping the papers she had been shuffling through, she scooted her chair closer to take a look at what he held. "What'd you find?"

"Mentions a structure that was torn down to make room for-" he stopped and flipped the sheet of paper over. "Oh god."

A premonition swept over her and she didn't have to ask but she did anyway. With a trembling voice, "What? Where was it?"

He handed her the piece of paper with trembling hands.

"Shit," she whispered. The chair made a loud shriek as she shoved it back quickly. "We'll call from the car. Let's go."


	7. The Space Between pt7

Excitement colored Eddie's cheeks. He met them at the door when they arrived and was now nearly bursting at the seams as they closed the door behind them. 

"I've got something," he told them in a rush. "We don't have a lot of time."

They followed him up the stairs and his words were still hurried. "After you called I changed some of the variables I used to detect the pattern of portals." He brought the map up on the computer screen. "If you make the day care central then a new pattern starts to form."

The other two watched the display as it ran through the whole sequence but neither could spot it.

"Ok, I give," Raine said with irritation.

"Well, if you assume the day care center is an infinite number, then -"  
  
"English Eddie," Foster grumbled.

"I know where the next portal is opening."

Two sets of eyes snapped up to look at him. He offered a big, cocky smile.

"You know for sure where it's going to be?" Raine demanded.

"Not the exact location," he amended, his smile faltering a bit. "But I don't think it will be a problem."

Cade frowned, "What do you mean?"

"The portal is going to open up around the baseball field next to the park."

"You're sure about this?"

"Positive."

"But you don't know exactly where around the field it will be?"

"I don't have to." The smile was big again and he turned his attention to Raine. "You should be able to see it."

She blinked at him in confusion but it was Cade who asked. "How the hell is she going to see it?"

"She senses energies, right?" She nodded. "There will be a large surge of energy right before the portal appears. After that pulse, it fades. The initial blast should be easy to get a direction from. The fade will make it possible to pinpoint it."

"How much time do we have?" Cade asked as Raine processed the information.

"Only a few hours."

Shaking her head, looking between the two of them, Raine objected. "Not enough time." Cade could practically see her mind working. "Eddie, can you figure out where the portal after this one will open?"

"Sure, but why not go now?"

"Because I want to go in with a plan," she told him. "Find out here that portal will open." She looked at Cade. "Call Jordan. This is going to be a two team operation."

"What have you got in mind?"

"You and I will go into the Pocket. Find the kids. Eddie and Jordan will find the generator. As soon as we come out they destroy it. These things are unstable as it is and destabilizing fast. If we're lucky it will stick to the pattern Eddie identified. If not, we could end up stuck there."

"I might be able to help you find the way out." Eddie told her. "You'll just need to take a few things with you."

She nodded. "Ok, great." Saying no more, she turned on a heel and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Cade.

"Recon," she replied over her shoulder. "Want to take a look at something. I'll be back later."

*******

The toe of her white leather sneaker dug a line in the dirt as she made a slow small arc in the swing. She held the chain loosely in her hand as she stared blankly down at the disturbed earth. He watched her a moment, the sun sending rays of fire around her as it set. Something lurched inside of him at the picture it made but he feared putting a name to it.

The swing made a soft squeak as she moved in the plastic seat. At the sound, he moved toward her and took a place in the swing next to hers.

"Thought maybe a portal opened up and ate you," he said more lightly than he felt. When she hadn't returned in an hour he had begun to worry about her.

A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Not yet," she replied, "I'm sure it will happen one of these days."

They sat in silence until the sun was nearly gone.

"You were right to want to go in with a plan." Cade told her softly, her troubled thoughts like giant blinking signs to him.

"Maybe," she said without conviction. "But if twelve hours means one of them dies, I'm responsible for that."

"You would be no more responsible for that than Aaron was responsible for that maniac cutting you open. You both made judgment calls. Good ones in my opinion. That's all you can do."

She was silent for a while as the first of the stars appeared in the sky above them. Then, "We could have gone this time and blown the generator later."

"True. We could. But once you get back with the kids the cops will keep you occupied for hours. That many officers around, you think we could actually even get in to shut it down?"

"No," she reluctantly admitted.

"And if they detain you too long and someone else goes missing?" He didn't really expect her to say anything and she didn't. "That thing has to be shut down the instant we get back. Maybe sooner. Otherwise we're risking a whole lot more than we are if we wait a few more hours."

A heavy sigh. "I know. I just keep thinking that one of them could be dead."

"That would be horrible," he agreed. "But even if that happens some of them are still alive. Alive and probably terrified at what has happened to them. And there's only one person here who can find them. Who has any chance of finding them."

"You and Jordan could go."

"Even if we managed to find the Pocket, what's on the other side is a surprise. We'd have no way of finding any of them. But you can track them. You know his aura remember?"

"It's still here," she breathed as her hand slid down the chain link by link. "He was so happy sitting here. It was the fist time in a long time that his mom had brought him here. His birthday is in three days." The night sky seemed to stretch out forever over them. She looked up to it then closed her eyes. "His mother must be frantic."

Stretching the chain so he could rest his forehead against her temple he smiled. "I'm sure she is." His voice was soothing to her. "And I imagine when you bring him home tomorrow she will be elated. You'll probably be the hero of his birthday party."

"None of them know that's why I'm here. To find their children."

"Why not?"

"The cops feared that too many hysterical parents would distract me."

"Would it?"

"Possibly. But I wish I could tell them something."

"You can tell them when you get their kids back."

Tension faded from her and he could feel it ebb away even though she said nothing. Like a child, he let his swing move to its place then began to push himself to put it in motion.

Raine watched him with amusement a moment then shook her head. "You're not in grade school anymore you know."

"See, that's your problem. You're too serious." He flew past her as she snorted. He thought he heard her mutter something to the effect of "pot, kettle, black". He swung past her and back again. "You're never too old to enjoy the swings."

She rolled her eyes but couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her. "And people think I'm a freak."

Feet skidded in the dirt, dragging him to a stop after a few passes.

"I never said you were a freak."

"No, you never said I was a freak."

"Has anyone ever actually called you a freak?"

"A few people."

"Would you trade it if you could?"

The admission was slow in coming but he got the feeling it was something she had thought a lot about. "No, probably not."

"So then why do you care?"

"Right. This coming from the man who had to go and get all twice blessed and take on an alien invasion. Like you have any room to talk. Those who believe you worship you." Cade snorted and nearly missed her next comment.   
  
"I think I worshipped you too once."

A stunned pause. "You mean before I got you shot?"

A hand reached over to whack him on the shoulder. "You didn't get me shot. And no. Before then, before now." A whisper. "Before this lifetime."

He blinked. "You're trying to tell me you've lived before?"

"What, you believe in aliens but you don't believe in reincarnation?" Her tone was as dry as the look she gave him.

"I've seen aliens."

She slid from the swing smoothly and stood in front of him. Snatching one of his hands from the chain of the swing she held it against her belly. Even though he wasn't touching skin he could feel the scar, feel the connection move every time he came near her.

"That wasn't created by one healing, as intense as it was." Fingertips tingled and he could feel the scar as if it were an entity all its own. "But I think it opened it up."

After dropping his hand she returned to her swing. "At least that's what a friend of mine thinks. It guess it explains the dreams."

"You've dreamt about it?"

"Sometimes. After I got out of the hospital the first time. I feel like they're memories instead of dreams when they happen. You're always there. Neither of us looks the same. But the colors of your aura, just the way you feel, is always the same."

The information was a shock to him, but deep down he knew it was true. "You think you've always been psychic?" The question was turning around in the back of his mind. Turning over and over, becoming new questions.

"The friend I mentioned senses past lives. Helps open them up for other people. He said I've always had gifts but he thinks they are the strongest this time around."

_Why? How?_ The questions tumbled around in his brain. He couldn't shake them completely so he tried to just shove them aside to be examined at a later date.

"We've known each other before?"

"Several lifetimes. You knew Eddie before as well."

The enormity of what she was saying staggered him. Made his heart thump painfully in his chest.

"Are they all the same? The lifetimes?"

"You mean are you always fighting some war?"

He hadn't thought of it that way before. "Yeah."

"No, not always. But you do carry a few traits with you every time. Most of us do."

He was scared to ask what those might be so he didn't. But one thing nagged him, left him with a hole inside.

"I always thought Hannah was my soul mate."

Realizing he might be missing the point she nodded in agreement. "She might be. Probably is. We don't always find our soul mates early. Some people never find them." Unable to look at him, she looked to the stars. "I never saw her alive so I don't know what her aura looks like. How she felt. She could easily have been around too. Or maybe she's a new soul that yours attached itself to. Joshua is one of those I think. Probably because he's just gained a soul."

"Joshua has a human soul?"

"Souls are souls. There really doesn't seem to be a human or alien soul. Maybe aliens don't normally have them and that's why." She shrugged. "Souls just are."

"And souls will find each other again?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes the connection is so strong they seek each other out. And sometimes they keep passing by one another."

"Is that what happened when you found me?"

"I don't know." A frown crossed her features. "Before I would have said no. But looking back, I felt a connection the first time I saw a picture of you. I knew you weren't a killer. Maybe somewhere in the back of my mind I knew."

Reaching over, he gently stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. "I'm not sure if I believe in other lifetimes," he told her quietly, "But I know I'm happy you found me in this one."

A smile caught her mouth and she looked at him. Even in the dark her violet eyes were intense. He felt the connection stir inside of him again. It made him nervous. Opened up doors he wasn't sure he wanted to explore. Change was always hard for him. It was a fact he recognized and accepted, but that didn't mean it was easy to deal with. A finger traced the line of her jaw and she closed her eyes.

"I'm glad you found me," he whispered, "Even if you are always getting me into trouble."

Her eyes popped open. Before she could say anything he shot out of the swing and tore off across the park. He didn't have to look back to know she was in hot pursuit.

*******

"We've got a problem," Eddie said as they walked through the door.

Fingers slipped apart and Cade looked at his friend. "What problem?"

Eddie ran a hand through his dark curly hair in frustration. "It opened early."

"The portal?" Raine asked.

"Yeah. And this one was only open a few minutes." He looked at his friends. "If you go in, it might close before you can get out."

"We don't have any choice," she quietly replied. "We can't leave those kids there."

"I know," Eddie sighed. "I'm working on finding out where a return doorway might be. But you might be going in blind."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Cade noted dryly. "You've shown me how to find one. Even if it closes we'll just have to find another one."

Raine nodded in agreement. "He's right."

The hacker didn't look happy about it but nodded once as well. "All right," he said, "I'm going to see if I can pinpoint the next one a little better." He started towards the stairs. "Jordan called. She said she'd be here in the morning with supplies."

"Supplies?" Cade echoed.

"Dunno man. That's just what she said."

Without saying anything else he went upstairs.

*******

The light kiss to her shoulder made her groan in protest. "Do I have to?" she whined in a voice gravelly with sleep. "I'm comfortable."

Her words were muffled by the pillow that most of her face was planted in. He smiled and kissed the shoulder again, this time noticing a small scar there. Jagged and white with age, it was hard to spot.

"I wasn't a graceful child," she muttered into the pillow. "I fell out of a tree when I was seven."

Cade snickered at the image. "Didn't your mom ever tell you climbing trees wasn't very lady like?"

"Oh she did," Raine yawned. "Didn't stop me though. After that incident, however, I didn't climb a tree for a few months. Sliding out of a tree several stories up will do that to you I guess."

His hand stroked her bare back lightly. When she stretched he could feel the muscles move under her skin. The sensation sent a surge of desire through him.

A sly grin spread across the half of her face that wasn't pressed into the pillow.

"We've got a long day ahead of us," she said lightly.

"We do," he agreed.

"We should be going over the plan. Looking for flaws."

"We should," he agreed again. Stretching out against her, skin slid against skin. The bolt of passion that made her skin tingle spilled over his skin as well.

"We might want to check the list Eddie made of stuff to take."

"We might."

Rolling onto her side so she faced him, she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her lips brushed against his when she murmured, "We've got a few minutes."

"A few."

His arms wound around her waist, pulling her to him as their lips met.


	8. The Space Between pt8

"They're going to be heavy," Jordan warned as she unzipped one of the backpacks she had brought with her. They were larger than the average backpack you could buy nearly everywhere, but smaller than the ones experienced hikers usually took with them on long hikes. One was a dark green and the other was brown. Raine half expected to end up with a bright red one just because it could easily make her a bigger target. "You've both got about a gallon of water each," the red head continued unaware of Raine's thoughts. At the brunette's soft groan she offered a sympathetic smile. "I know. It's heavy. But I wasn't sure if the kids would need it as well." 

A pang of guilt hit her as she nodded. Jordan was on board and doubting her wasn't going to get them anywhere. "Good thinking," she approved.

"You've both also got a heavy duty first aid kits. Nothing that requires special knowledge. Mostly the basics."

"They're not going to be gone months Jordan," Eddie grinned at the preparations. "Just a few hours. We hope."

She shot him a look before continuing. "You've got heavy duty flashlights with extra batteries. None of the kids are diabetic or anything are they?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Raine answered.

"Ok, then you can leave the insulin kit here." She offered a sheepish smile. "I might have gotten carried away. Part of being paranoid."

Cade nearly responded to the self-inflicted barb but Raine beat him to it.

"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you." A moment of understanding passed between the two. "What else is in there?"

Jordan zipped up the pack she had opened and rose. "Two blankets. Some snacks. The kids are probably hungry. Matches. Compass. Hunting knife each." She looked at Foster. "You've got a Glock and some ammo."

The cell phone was caught in mid air just after Raine flung it at him. She stuffed hers into a pocket and he searched for a place to put his. Eddie raised his in a silent salute.

"All armed with cell phones then," Raine looked at Eddie. "How much time do we have?"

With a glance at his watch he answered, "Less than an hour."

"All right then," Raine answered as she shouldered the green pack. "Let's get to it."

They moved to the two-car garage without speaking. Cade put his pack in the back of the Blazer with a soft thud. When he reached for hers she handed it to him. Eddie piled equipment in the back of Jordan's SUV as the woman checked her own weapon. When Cade let the glass down gently Jordan looked at them.

"Be careful. Both of you."

"We will," Raine answered. "You too."

*******

He handed her the large backpack and she hauled it on, giving it a minute to settle against her body. A cool spot in the bottom of the pack pressed against her lower back and she figured it for a bag of water. She moved a little, getting a feel for the whole thing, trying to find out which movements would be hindered by it.

"You good?" he asked, settling his own pack.

A curt nod. "I think so." A slight smile. "Does Jordan always pack like a girl?"

Cade laughed. "She likes to be prepared. She can cram more weapons in a bag than anyone I know."

"Guess it's a good thing she owns her own company. 'Can pack weapons well'. Not sure how that would fly on a resume." 

He slammed the tailgate into place and let the glass close before answering. "She's a smart girl. And strong. She's been through a lot."

"I know." She said no more as they turned and headed for the tree line. Eddie pinpointed the next portal in the few acres of woods that were still left in the area. "You care about her."

"She's been a good ally. And a good friend."

Raine gave a noncommittal grunt as she climbed over a fallen tree. When he cleared it, he touched her arm and she looked at him.

"I care about her," he said honestly, "But it's never been" he trailed off, then, "We've never not like you and I anyway."

"I know. But thanks for saying it."

They continued in silence. Coming to a stop slowly Raine looked around the forest. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind. It crawled across her skin.

"You feel it?" she whispered in that detached voice he hated hearing.

A denial sprang forward but before he could say it a tingle started on the back of his neck. The hairs there stood up.

"It's building," she shuddered.

"Like a gathering storm," he replied.

His eyes searched the green. Underbrush moved and he tensed. The rabbit shot across the grass and leaves in front of them. A nervous laugh escaped him before he could stop it.

No wind blew, but strands of her hair caught in some kind of breeze. When she opened her eyes they were glowing dimly.

"It's coming," she whispered.

The energy rubbed against him like a cat rubbing it's face against you to mark territory. It sent prickles of power jumping across his skin. His breath caught in his chest as it rose higher and peaked. Trees shimmered as if they were part of a heat mirage.

She reached out, taking a few steps forward and he nearly protested. When she touched it, sparks of violet energy shot away from the contact in all directions. Cade jumped and touched her back. The connection was instant. Energy shot through him, making his muscles quiver as if an electric current were running through him. His lungs refused to expand and panic began to well up within in. Just when he thought his heart might simply short out in his chest he felt her take control of it. Felt it as she allowed it into herself and harnessed it. Gasping for air, his hand slid from her back once she broke the contact with the gateway.

"Ready?" she asked softly without looking over her shoulder at him. He didn't have to see her eyes to know they were now a deep plum.

"I guess," he coughed, still reeling from the lack of air and the shock of energy. Hesitation lasted only a second then he grasped her hand with his own. "Let's go."

*******

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Jordan asked suspiciously as Eddie raked a small tool over the tumblers of the flimsy lock.

"I know," he replied with more than a little irritation in his voice. "I've done this before."

Jordan rolled her eyes and started to respond when the lock gave a little click. With a triumphant smile Eddie looked at her and twisted the doorknob. He somehow managed to refrain from sticking his tongue out at her. Pushing the door open, he motioned her through first. The door closed softly behind them with a faint clack.

"Told you so," he said, his voice full of satisfaction.

The day care was set up like most small schools. A long hallway stretched out before them with a half dozen doors on either side. Skylights in the roof allowed enough moonlight for them to see by. They moved warily down the hall keeping their voices and footsteps as quiet as possible even though the building had no security, living or non.

"You really think this thing is just sitting in the basement and no one's noticed it in all these years?" she asked skeptically, her voice a low whisper.

"Doubtful," he replied just as quietly. "More likely there's a level under the basement that no one realized was there."

He had known finding the generator would be tricky. It was highly unlikely that it could be in the basement of the day care for more than five years with no one noticing it. Then again, the Gua were always good as disguising things so he wasn't ruling it out. Most likely there was a sub chamber to the basement that they hadn't noticed when they tore down the old building to put this one up. Which meant that the door could easily be buried under tons of concrete. Or it was possible they kept the foundation of the old building when they built the new one. Cade and Raine hadn't dug far enough into the paperwork to find out. Once they had realized the generator was under the day care they were ready to rush forward with getting it put out of commission. Eddie marveled slightly at how in sync their thoughts were when it came to certain things.

They reached the end of the all and stopped at the door marked "Boiler Room". With a deep breath he grasped the doorknob and swung the door open. Impenetrable darkness waited only feet from them. It gave Eddie the willies. Shoving aside the creep factor, the hacker stepped onto the upper most step. After Jordan followed and closed the door behind her, he flicked on a heavy-duty flashlight.

"These rock," he told her happily casting the powerful beam down the stairs. The light was strong enough to reach to the floor of the sub level. "I gotta get me one of these."

"If we get out of this, you can have it," she returned. "What are we looking for exactly?"

Pausing as they reached the bottom of the stairs, Eddie handed her the flashlight and dug around in the black duffel bag he carried with him. After much rummaging and a little swearing, he produced a small, boxy meter. 

Holding it so she could see the face in the light he told her, "For that needle to hit the red."

"All right," she said as she swung the flashlight left and right, trying to get a feel for the size of the room. "Where do we start?"

He pointed to the right. "We'll go along the walls first and see if we pick up something. If not, then we'll look in the rest of the room."

They moved in silence with only the sound of their feet scuffing on the concrete to break the quiet. After finding the first corner they made it only a few yards before Eddie let out a yelp.

"Gahh!"

"What?" she asked sharply, her body tense.

A shudder ran through Eddie's body and he pointed to the wall almost at the floor. A large black spider the size of his palm clung there.

"That?" the red head asked incredulously. "You're scared of that?"

"Hey," he retorted defensively, "I hate spiders ok?"

"Oh for the love of" she breathed as she lashed out with a black booted toe. The arachnid didn't have a chance.

The crunch made Eddie shiver again, but he offered a bashful smile to his partner. "Thanks. I hate those things."

She started to reply but movement caught her attention. "Eddie," she hissed urgently and motioned to the meter he held in his hand. The needle was dancing all across the red zone.


	9. The Space Between pt9

There were only vague thoughts before she was spit out on the other side. She landed on her hands and knees, skidding across the hot, course sand. He hit with a soft thud behind her as she was spitting out grains of silicone. 

"Oh my God," she heard him exclaim softly behind her.

She looked up at the world they had landed in.

It was a wasteland. Red sand stretched out before them for miles. The sky nearly matched the color of the ground. Haze hung above them and the sky she expected to be blue was mostly just a dirty red cloud. She coughed deeply feeling the thick smog pull into her lungs. Holding back the feeling of dread, she rose from her spot in the sand and brushed herself off calmly. When she was done she steadied herself and took in what she could see.

The decaying remains of what might have been a city was to their left. Skeletons of buildings and other structures reached wearily towards the sky. Straight ahead was more sand. To the right was what once must have been mountains of some kind. The rock either worn away or destroyed into small formations. Dark spots in the face suggested caves.

"I've been here before," Cade told her in an uneasy tone. "Xevallah brought me here. Showed me this place."

"What is it?" she asked, turning a tight circle. There was only more sand behind them.

"Earth," he replied quietly. "After the Gua decimate it. After we've been wiped out."

"Christ," she exclaimed under her breath. "Did they leave anything behind?"

"No."

Hysteria threatened deep inside of her. This wasn't Earth. It couldn't be Earth. Earth was lush and green and cool and dead. A cough covered the sob that ripped itself from her throat. He must have felt it too because he reached out to her. Held her hand in his. She offered him a wavering smile then nodded. She was in control.

Letting his hand slid from hers she took a deep breath. Her eyes fell closed and she opened herself up. Instead of being bombarded with the voices, feelings and thoughts of the dead she got nothing. A vacuum filled void that threatened to suck her in whole. Frantically her mind searched for those souls who were always within her reach. Those who had always been around since she knew what she could do.

She found nothing.

A cry of alarm rode the tide of panic. What should have been blessed silence in her head was instead a sucking hole in her mind. Fear whirled around her like a tornado. This world was dead in more ways than one.

The fear and horror were on her face. They warred with the control she normally held so tightly against her. Cade watched as the emotions fought with one another. A whimper spilled from her lips as violet eyes twitched open. They were sightless, seeing nothing that was there, as little as that was. He waited until he thought the panic would win. Then he placed his hands on either side of her face.

"Raine," he said gently. "Come on now. You've got to concentrate."

"They're not there," she whimpered pitifully. "It's empty. A black hole. The Gua destroyed them too."

He frowned in confusion. "Who's not there?" he prodded.

"All of them." Her eyes searched his face but he didn't think she was actually seeing him. "It's a void."

Cade shook her once. Hard. "Get it together. Remember what we're here for."

Steely bars of will and control slowly snapped into place as he watched. When she looked at him he could still see the fear but knew it was no longer in control.

"You ok?" he asked gently.

"Scared shitless," she answered with a self-depreciating laugh.

A small smile couldn't be stopped as he looked at her. "Fair enough," he assured her calmly. She locked onto his voice, letting it soothe her as it had in the past. "You still with me?"

"I'm with you." Her voice was small and scared. Like a child. It made him want to scoop her up and carry her out of this place. Take her someplace safe and warm where he could kiss away her fears.

Instead he placed his forehead against hers. "Tell me who isn't here."

"All of them," she told him again. "All the voices. The souls."

"You mean the ghosts you hear?"

She nodded as well as she could without breaking the contact between them. "I feel like they've been ripped out of me. They've always been there" Her soft voice was stronger now but not by much.

"Maybe they just don't exist here," Foster suggested carefully. "Maybe something happened to them when the Gua destroyed everything." Her soft moan made him grip her face again. "They aren't why we're here. The kids. We came here to track them. Can you still do that?"

"I don't know," she confessed.

He forced her to look at him. Violet eyes seemed lighter than usual and he felt worry begin to take root inside of him. "You're the only one who can. And we need to move fast. Try again."

Just when he thought he would fall into the depths of those purple orbs she closed them. Placing a gentle kiss against her forehead he waited. Stillness radiated from her, slowly at first then with an almost physical force. The sand that had been blowing around them fell to the ground. He laid his cheek against hers and the contact sent a rush of peace inside of him. With his mind he held onto that feeling. Let it consume him. Closed himself around it until nothing could move him. He was anchored. Her anchor.  
  
Her whole being felt it when he latched onto her and held fast. Recalling what the blonde haired boy's aura had looked and felt like, she summoned an image of him in her head. Letting her mind become a wind of its own, she felt herself drift out in all directions. She sensed other living things, plants, small animals, but nothing that was human.

Her mind floated further out stretching the thread it shared with her body dangerously thin. He felt that thread vibrate with the strain and tried to strengthen it with himself. Letting himself feel her against him he imagined a new thread spiraling around the old, holding on tightly.

It worked.

With a gasp she looked at him. "I felt him."

"Where?"

A hand slipped down his arm in stages until it met his. Allowing his fingers to link with hers he felt that calm again before she flung her mind outward once more. This time she wasn't trying to cover in all directions. The contact was strong and fast. 

"Over there," she said pointing towards the rock with her free hand.

Settling the backpack with a shake he nodded once. "All right then."

Without another word they headed for the once magnificent mountain.

*******

"Damn thing has to be around here somewhere," Eddie grumbled as he ran a hand along the wall he and Jordan had been closest to when the meter went haywire. He carefully avoided the spider guts still smeared on the rough surface. Even after searching the full length of the brick he had found nothing. Even after the third pass. "We're running out of time."

Expecting some kind of answer, he looked at her when she didn't reply. Instead she was looking at the floor, frowning.

"Does this patch of cement look different than the stuff around it?" she asked curiously, scraping a booted toe across it.

Passing his light along the area she indicated, he looked at it closely. At first it looked like plain old everyday cement to him. Then he realized there was a difference. Jordan was standing in the middle of an area that was probably no more than two feet by three feet of concrete that was a few shades darker. Dropping to his knees he carefully sought out the edge of the color change. Taking a deep breath, he blew along the edge. No cracks emerged.

"Damn," he muttered as he sat back on his feet. Taking a moment to study the seam he finally shook his head. "If this is it, there's no way in. They sealed it when they left."

"We could blow it," Jordan offered.

"Risky," Eddie answered. "The vibrations might make the generator more unstable than it already is." He considered the patch another minute. "Look around. Are there any random switches or levers?"

Spinning on a heel, she didn't get more than a foot away when she stumbled over something in the floor. Concern hit him and he started to ask her if she was ok but stopped when the slab of cement moved.

The heavy mortar dropped down then slid to the side. Dust drifted through the light beam.

"That would be it," he muttered under his breath. Looking up from the hole he watched Jordan scowl at whatever she had stumbled over. "You ok?"

"Looks like a rock on the floor," she said with irritation. "Guess it's not." Kicking it for good measure she didn't look at him until he yelped.

The slab slid back into place quickly with a thump.

"Hey!" he protested yanking his hand back from the hole that was there only a few seconds ago, "Those could have been my fingers!"

"Sorry," the red head grumbled. "Stand clear," she warned before kicking the switch again. Once more the darkened concrete moved away.

Moving to stand behind him, she shone the beam of her flashlight into the hole. Metal rebar had been bent to form small steps and handholds. What appeared to be natural rock walls pushed back into the darkness further than their light would reach.

Jordan looked at the back of his head. "Ready?"

"Not really," Eddie answered. Just the thought of all the creepy crawlies that might be down there made him shudder. "But I guess that's where we need to be huh?"

"Most likely," she agreed with a slight smile.

"All right then," he grumbled as he handed her his flashlight and reached a foot to the crude steps. "If I didn't like kids so much"

She grinned until he hit the bottom then handed the light down to him. "What's down there?"

Playing the light along the rock walls he answered, "Hallway it looks like. I don't see any doors from here. No end. Looks like there might be some writing up ahead." He looked up at her. "You coming?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

*******

They trudged through the sand without comment. Both were very glad they had decided on sturdy hiking boots for the trip. It was bad enough the wind was whipping the sand around them like deadly weapons, but having to cover any distance with sand in their shoes would have been intolerable. Occasionally he felt her reach out with her mind. For him it felt like a hand lightly touching the back of his head. 

Her nose had bled once so far and she looked tired. Briefly he wondered if she were killing herself slowly by using the gifts she had. Would she burn out faster than if she didn't have them? Watching her plod along beside him made him wonder and worry. Once again the thought of her gifts rose to the forefront his mind. How had she gotten them? She said she thought she always had some but that they seemed stronger in this lifetime. He still wasn't sure he believed in lifetimes and reincarnation. But he did believe that she was special. Maybe this was some innate ability that rested in her. In her soul maybe. In her genes. Did something happen that caused her to be so different? A trauma her mother endured. An injury she sustained as a baby. The questions kept racing around in his head. He was so intent on them that he jumped when she spoke.

"You've got that deep thought look on your face," she said, gritting her teeth against the wind and sand.

"Sorry," he offered a slight smile. "Just lost in thought."

"Must be something terribly interesting."

Usually Raine could read what she called surface thoughts. The kinds of thoughts that passed through a person's mind nearly all the time. Not deep thoughts or those of deep concentration, just the ones that were every day type thoughts. He wasn't sure his thinking counted as the same thing, but it surprised him that she hadn't heard some of it.

"You can't hear them?" he asked carefully.

Seeming to think about the question, she tilted her head thoughtfully a moment, slowing slightly. Shaking her head, she answered, "No. Not like I normally can. If I try then I hear faint words. This place must muddy up my head." She shot him a sly grin. "Why, thinking evil thoughts about me that you don't want me to hear?"

Her words jolted him, but he didn't confess his line of thought. Instead he shook his head and kept moving forward.

"Just curious is all."

She might have responded but he stopped and that conversation ended. They both looked ahead thoughtfully. The rock was only a hundred yards ahead now. The dark spots they had thought to be caves appeared to be just that. From here they could see natural ledges and outcroppings from the rock. Most likely created by the blowing sand. A fleeting thought to what this jumble of rocks might have been before passed through her mind. She shook off the fear it created and closed her eyes.

Probing each of the caves quickly it only took a few seconds for her to look at Cade and point. "That one," she told him, pointing to one that was higher up than some of the others.

While not terribly high, it was higher than he wanted to climb in the wind. "How do we get up there?" he asked hoping against hope she might tell him there were stairs.

"Looks like we climb," she replied lightly.

"I was afraid you were going to say that," Cade muttered under his breath. But she didn't hear him. She was already studying the rock face.

*******

"More numbers," Jordan muttered with disgust. They had finally gotten a look at the writing that had been on the wall when they came in. It had been a letter-number sequence. Now in every other hall they found more of the same.

Eddie studied it a moment with a small scowl. The paint that had been used seemed to have reflective properties and it shone brightly in the beam from the flashlight.

"You know what it makes me think of?" he asked absently not really expecting an answer from her. "One of those military movies where the government has a secret underground installation where they're experimenting on aliens."

His flashlight whipped up to her face as hers snapped to his. Both wore nearly identical looks of uneasiness.

"You don't really think it's possible," she started, her voice full of disbelief. But at the very edges were undertones of worry.

"What, that the government knows about the Gua and they've been trying to use the alien technology themselves? That they've hung Foster out to dry even though they know he's right because aliens would cause a public panic?" He shrugged a shoulder casually. "I'm paranoid remember? Every good Paranoid has at least one pet government conspiracy theory they live by."

She looked at him steadily and asked seriously, "So do you buy this one?"

"I'm not sure yet," he replied solemnly. "I've had a lot of government theories in the past, but this" He blinked. "It blows my mind."

She shook her head without saying anything. After another half dozen halls with doors that led to vast empty rooms she grew frustrated.

"How the hell are we supposed to find the damn thing in this maze?" she grumbled hotly.

He cast a glance at her but said nothing. Instead he focused on the meter he held in his hand and the needle that hovered just near the red zone. When they came to yet another intersection of halls he stood in both directions a moment while Jordan continued to grumble.

"Come on," he told her after standing in the middle of all of them for half a minute. Still watching the meter, he took the left hall.

They heard the noise after fifty feet or so. A loud hum that sent vibrations through them. After another twenty feet they found the door.

Someone had pried it open, or at least tried. The gray steel door was dented and mangled. The crowbar that had presumably been used was on the floor only inches away.

"Someone wanted in there bad," Jordan noted mildly.

"Looks that way," he agreed. Licking his lips nervously he glanced once at Jordan who nodded at him and held her gun at the ready. With only a few more seconds of hesitation he reached out and grasped the knob. Wrenching it right then left he shook his head and looked back at her. "Either they never got in or they locked the door behind them."

Leveling the gun at the door she jerked her head to the right. Waiting until he had stepped clear she took solid aim and fired two rounds into the doorknob. Stainless steel fell in mangled pieces to the floor. Ignoring Eddie's comments about hoping no one was in there, she kicked the door open.

The room was dark but gave the impression of being large like all the others. The hum was even louder now and she could feel it in her teeth. One hand held the gun out while the other groped along the wall for a light switch. She heard Eddie mumble something beside her but ignored him.

Fluorescent lights flickered on over head and the hacker let out a low whistle. "Man, if only the Airstream could have held this kind of power."

Unlike the other rooms before it, this one was filled to capacity. Large metal boxes with blinking lights were in rows from floor to ceiling. All the electronic equipment made the room several degrees hotter than the rest of the place had been. Down the rows they could see an opening.

"These look like the supercomputers form the 70's and 80's," Jordan said uneasily and he nodded in agreement.

Cautiously they proceeded down the rows to the open area. 

Jordan let out a gasp.

"Guess we know what happened to the Harker woman," he said softly


	10. The Space Between pt10

Her hands were raw and scraped. Abrasions stung like crazy but she dug her fingers into another crevice and pulled herself up. Stones tumbled down the rock face when she moved her foot and he swore. 

"Sorry," she offered without looking down. "We're almost there."

The sting increased as rock added another cut to her palm but she tried to block it out. Tried to think about the kids that were oh so close now. Hell, she tried to think about anything except being stuck here forever. Just the thought was enough to make her palms sweat, which was distinctly bad considering she was sprawled across a rock at a good height. She had no real desire to plummet to her death.

Another curse from below made her look down. He was hanging by one hand, the other obviously having gotten a hold of too much loose rock judging by the rain of stone falling in front of him. One booted foot appeared to have a precarious hold on a ledge that might be described as tiny. The other hung in mid air as well.

"Cade!" she yelled. Fear started tearing at her belly. She couldn't be in this place alone.

"I'm fine!" he yelled back as he searched for another handhold. The fingers clinging precariously to the former mountain began to cramp and he swore under his breath. Just when he thought he'd plunge to his death his other hand found a hold. He breathed a big sigh of relief.

Above him he heard her call out, "Watch out!"

More rock bits cascaded down over him once again. He hung on tightly, waiting for the storm of gravel to pass. Scraping and a grunt above him. The rockslide slowed to a stop and he looked up in time to see her pull herself into the cave above them. Quickly she was turned around and offering him a hand. He grasped it tightly and climbed with his feet as she helped haul him up.

They stood, brushing themselves off without a word. When they turned they were faced with two boys holding crude wooden spears.

Raine gasped slightly in surprise. Cade tried to push her behind him but she batted his hand away. Gathering herself she stepped forward with a shaky smile.

"Tim Noah and Johnny Firth I believe," she said smoothly.

The boys blinked at each other and lowered the weapons slowly.

"Who are you?" Tim demanded cautiously.

"Friends," Raine assured him. "I'm Raine and this is-" she stumbled over the name then finally managed. "Michael." She recovered well. "We're here to take you home."

"How'd you get here?" the other boy asked suspiciously.

"Same way you did," Cade replied easily. "Through one of those portals." He paused a moment. "We've seen them before."

The boys studied the both of them carefully. Seeming to accept their story, they both nodded.

"So you're not stuck here like us?" Tim asked with a mixture of curiosity and excitement in his voice.

"Not exactly," Raine told him. "But we don't have a lot of time. Are the others here too?"

Once again both boys nodded. Almost as one they turned and started down a tunnel. Tim paused once to look over his shoulder and motion them to follow. They looked at each other then followed the boys.

"How many of you are here?" she questioned as they walked. Footsteps echoed around them making their voices seem strange.

Johnny looked over his shoulder for a second then answered, "Sixteen of us all together."

She breathed a sigh of relief but it caught in her throat when she realized, "Sixteen?" she echoed tossing a glance to Foster. There were only fifteen missing by their count.

Before either could say any more the tunnel widened and they were entering another cave.

*******

Jordan knelt next to what was left of the body. She tried to breathe shallowly but the smell of decomposition still made her want to gag.

The body was on its back. The face of the other woman was frozen in a startled expression as it started blankly up at the ceiling. Decomposition was milder than it might have been thanks to the cooler underground air. But that wasn't enough to keep the missing parts of her from leaving hideous wounds behind. She was missing her right leg from just below the knee. Also missing was the right arm and most of the right shoulder.

"These wounds look cauterized," Jordan noted grimly. "You think someone killed her for getting too close?" She looked up at Eddie.

He was studying the body from a distance. After considering the question a moment he slowly shook his head. "No, she wasn't killed by anyone." The words were shaky.

"Something killed her," she pointed out with a note of sarcasm in her voice.

"Yeah, something not someone." He swallowed hard.

She frowned at him. "Eddie? What are you talking about?"

The fear in his eyes was obvious. "I think she found a portal," he told her haltingly. "But she didn't make it through before it closed."

"And nearly cut her in half," the red head finished for him. "Could that happen to Cade?"

A small shrug as eyes remained fixed on the body. "Possibly. If it started to close before they were all out" the words faded out.

"Any of them could end up like this," she surmised.

"Exactly," Eddie agreed. Then with a growing sense of urgency, "Come on. We've got to find the power source and see if we can stabilize it long enough for them to come through."

*******

The two boys turned around to face them and fifteen pairs of eyes were staring at them. Relief flooded Raine to see that most of them appeared to be ok. A few cuts and bruises, some dirt, but ok. She shrugged out of her backpack and set it down to the floor. Kneeling, she unzipped it and drug out the bag of water and a small collapsible cup. Handing them to Tim she told him softly to see who might need it. Cade had knelt as well and was dragging out a first aid kit.

Moving to the first scrape he saw, he sat next to a small girl and offered her a gentle smile. "Hey there," he said softly, "Can I take a look at that?" She contemplated him a full minute then nodded. Trying to keep emotion at bay he ripped open an alcohol pad and gingerly swabbed the abrasion.

Raine looked around the cave. Walls sloped up high leaving the room with an open feeling. Sand had been packed against one wall with a few blankets to create beds. If she listened carefully she could hear the trickle of water not too far off. Light came in from several small cracks in the domed ceiling. Banged and battered pots and pans sat against another wall full of what she assumed to be rainwater. She wondered if they had gone into the remnants of the city they had spotted to find the things that obviously didn't originate from the cave. Watching a moment as the older boy rationed out water and Cade tended to wounds she tried to decide how long to give them before they needed to go back to the portal. They really didn't have much time.

Tim approached her with the nearly empty water container and the cup. "It's almost gone," he told her as he handed the items back to her.

"It's ok. We've got more and we won't have to be here much longer." Silently she hoped her last words wouldn't be a lie. She looked around the room again then back at the boy. "You said there were sixteen. There's only fifteen here."

"Eric isn't well enough to come out," the boy replied. He touched her hand then turned away and moved towards the back of the cave. A small tunnel opened on the back side of the cave and she followed him as he slipped through. "He took care of us when we first came but he's been sick."

She had no time to ask questions before she was in another room, this one much smaller than the last. The boy was older, but no more than eighteen or nineteen. His dirty blonde hair was long, obviously not having been cut in quite a long time.. Features were gaunt with illness and she couldn't be sure what he had looked like before but something about him was familiar. His eyes were closed as if he were sleeping peacefully but his labored breathing told another story. A blanket was pulled up to his chest and one was under him covering the inches of sand he was laying on. Slowly his head turned and he opened his eyes to look at her. Soft green was dull with pain and she felt a sharp stab of guilt. What had she told Cade? If twelve hours made things different

Moving across the room in only a few steps she sat next to him. She smoothed hair away from his face and offered a smile. "Can I get you anything?" she asked gently. Her mind was already roaming his body looking for the cause of his illness, seeking it out. There had to be something they could do.

He shook his head weakly. It took more than a few tries before he was able to speak. When he did, his voice was raspy and worn. Pain tinged the words. "You're here to take them home?"

She nodded once. "I hope to."

"They don't belong here," he said. "They need to go home."

"What about you?" she asked.

"This is home," he told her slowly. At first she didn't understand, but as he spoke again it became clear. "Is it still green there?"

"Green?"

"You still have trees and grass?"

Raine swallowed hard. "Yeah, we still have those."

"They took them away from us." Pain shot through him and he tensed. "When we began to revolt they started destroying everything."

"The Gua?"

The nod he gave her sent more pain through him and he winced. "They tried to destroy us all, but they failed. He didn't let them kill us all."

A shiver of premonition ran down her spine. "He?"

"The Messiah," he told her with a faint smile. "He told us that even if we died at least we hadn't let them own us. He was right. Even those of us who lost loved ones knew he was right. The Twice Blessed Man was always right."

Just then Cade cleared the mouth of the cave and the young man's eyes grew wide. "It's you," he whispered.

He had heard their words as they echoed eerily down the tunnel. With a sad smile he sat next to Raine and touched the boy's shoulder. "I'm here."

Tears welled in green eyes. "I never thought I'd see you again. You died when I was young." He swallowed and licked dry lips. "Has it happened where you come from?" 

The question was so full of hope that Cade might have lied to him even if their world has been as bleak as his. He silently thanked whatever powers that be were out there that he didn't have to. A real smile crossed his features.

"We stopped it." The words made Eric smile. "We killed Mabus and the Second Wave never came."

"I knew you could." The boy obviously believed in him more than he had believed in himself at times. "I wish I could see it. I was still very young when the invasion happened. I don't remember how it was before then."

Foster nearly protested but knew it would do no good. The boy knew he was dying and he knew there was nothing that could be done. Cade had learned that sometimes all you could do was accept the inevitable. It didn't matter how much you railed against it, it would happen anyway. Useless words rose in him but he didn't have a chance to say them. Instead Raine spoke.

"I can help you see it."

Eric turned hopeful eyes to her. "You can?"

A nod and then she closed her eyes. Fingers rested lightly against his forehead and the air in the room rippled. Within seconds it began to fill with small flashes of light, like fireflies all around them. Flashes of everything from deep eggplant purple to lilac surrounded them. The scene faded in slowly and within a few minutes they were all standing in the park Cade and Raine had been sitting in only hours before. Birds called from the trees and rushing water sounded steadily in the distance. A gentle breeze blew across them bringing scents from all around. Fresh cut grass, pine trees, flowers. The sun shone brightly above them, the light kissing their skin with gentle warmth. Vivid black and orange from a butterfly that darted around them stood out against the green of the grass.

They stood in the grass and Eric turned a circle, his face tilted towards the sun. A full smile filled his face and as Raine looked at him she suddenly knew why he was familiar. The illusion flickered slightly, but the boy didn't see it. Cade looked at her worriedly but she gave him a smile.

The sun began to set around them casting warm oranges, reds and yellows across them. The young man watched with wide eyes as it slowly sank behind the trees. When dark came the fantasy faded and they were back in the cave.

"Thank you," he whispered in awe. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"You're welcome," she told him softly. "I wish we could take you so you could see it for real."

His smile was warmer than the sun had been. "That was perfect."

Words escaped her as tears welled in her eyes. She brushed a strand of hair away from his face and kissed his forehead. "Call for me when you see the light," she whispered sadly. "I'll hear you."

"Thank you," he murmured.

Life was slipping away from the boy rapidly and she knew he had more to say. But it wasn't for her to hear. Rising, she wiped the trickle of blood from her nose and turned back towards the other cave.

Eric and Cade watched her go. The minutes ticked by but Cade wasn't sure what to say. He was never comfortable with the role he had obviously been meant to fulfill in the fate of humankind in their fight with the Gua. It was the boy who broke the silence.

"She is beautiful," he murmured. Death was creeping in. "I never got to see her as a child. She died giving birth to me."

The words startled Cade. He opened his mouth to speak, but shock stole the sound from him.

"You told me about her many times after that, but I never imagined." He trailed off for a few seconds as his breathing grew more labored. "Even pictures never made me understand." He smiled weakly at Foster. "Now I do. I understand why you wanted her to stay after she was shot." His hand reached out to grasp Cade's. Green eyes cleared suddenly. "I wish I could go back with you. Be the son I never got to be to the both of you." The hand of the Reaper was upon him. "I love you Dad."


	11. The Space Between pt11

The dirty silver metal might pass for steel but Eddie had a feeling it wasn't anything so simple. It was a square box that was three feet all around. On the top was a hole the size of the palm of his hand. A silver sphere sat in the hole, the top half jutting out of the top. Every few seconds a crackle of blue electricity danced across the smooth metal of the ball. 

"Is there an off switch?" she tried hopefully. Just once doing something easy would be nice.

He circled the box once. No cords or cables went into or out of it as far as he could tell.

"Doesn't look like it," he replied quietly.

She sighed. "It was worth a shot." Nothing was ever easy.

Looking at the rows of computers in the room Eddie tried to think it through.

"Go that way," he told her, jerking a thumb in the opposite direction from where they had come. "See if you can find a control console or something. They had to have a way to operate it. I hope."

They walked in opposite directions. Jordan thought the place was creepy. The blinking lights cast strange patterns on everything around them. As she moved further from the box, a faint beeping sound steadily grew louder. When she had gone a hundred yards the computers cleared once again. Before her was what appeared to be the backside of a long metal bank counter. The back rose to nearly her chest. The bottom opened up about mid thigh to reveal cables, cords and wires. Small vents dotted the metal.

She rounded the side and stopped. It looked like something they showed in military ads on TV. The ledge was desk high and the panel behind it was littered with buttons, switches and screens of various sizes and colors. But it was stenciled writing on the bottom edge of the back panel that caught her attention.

"Eddie!" she called, "I think I found something." _That's putting it mildly,_ she thought as footsteps echoed towards her at a fast pace.

"Oh yeah," he whistled, "You've got the touch."

"Got more than that," she said as he rounded the edge. "Look."

His eyes widened as he read the words: PROPERTY OF THE US ARMY. Shock smacked him upside the head with the force of a moving train. He smiled shakily and offered a high-pitched, strained laugh.

"This is" the words trailed off and he stared blankly at the object of his shock. After a few silent moments he managed to regain his senses. "Ok, this is big man," he tried again. "But it only leaves me with one really huge question."

"What's that?" Jordan asked. She thought the whole thing was pretty clear and it left her disgusted.

"Does the government know about the aliens or are the aliens high enough in our military that they can get a project like this green lighted?"

*******

He was rocked to his core by the words uttered by the young man that was his son. Obviously things in this world were very different. Things other than the invasion. The boy had said nothing of Eddie or Jordan and he wondered how greatly their lives had been altered by the one change that was glaringly obvious.

After blowing the Gua installation, Raine had given up her mission for his. In the process it seemed they had possibly pushed back the invasion but had ultimately failed. Not only had the Second Wave come, but Raine had died giving birth to their son.

Had she known the consequences of not continuing with her own mission? Or had it been fate or luck that led her to continue on? He didn't know. He couldn't possibly understand the whims of fate, destiny and dumb luck. But there was one thing he did understand with a perfect clarity he had never achieved before. Those people who had not given up their roles in life to take up his mission were right to do so. They had known, even when he had persisted, that that battle wasn't theirs. Raine had known that as well.

He rose on unsteady legs after placing a light kiss to the forehead of the dead boy. With one last look at his son he turned and left the cave.

The children were busy gathering items from the cave at Raine's direction. Blankets were being folded and water containers sealed. She looked at him worriedly and he offered her a weak smile.

"Are we ready?" he asked quietly.

"Almost," she replied, reaching out to touch his shoulder lightly as he came to stand next to her. "We're taking the blankets and water just in case."

"Good idea."

"You ok?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "I'm not sure I understand how the fate of the world can rest in a handful of decisions," he told her honestly.

Her smile had a hint of knowledge to it that he didn't think he ever wanted to know himself.

"Yeah, fate can be funny like that."

It was tempting to try to decipher the underlying meaning to her words but he just wasn't up to it. He was still stunned to know even part of the events that had led to this world. Emotion and questions whirled around inside of him. He wondered if she felt it too when she offered him an out.

"The kids tell me there's a back entrance to this place that doesn't require climbing."

Until then he hadn't stopped to consider how they would get the kids out. The older kids might possibly be able to descend on the rock face without being harmed, but the younger kids would never make it.

"That's a plus," he said, "How much longer does it take to go that way?"

"Tim says not much longer. It's not like climbing is speedy," she looked around the cave a moment. "He says the portal discharges some pretty fantastic lightning when someone comes through. That's how they knew we were here."

"How did Eric end up here?" The question was out before he knew it was coming. 

If she was surprised she didn't show it. She never missed a beat.

"When the first kid slid through Eric saw the discharge. It had been a while since it had happened, so he came to investigate. He found Tim and knew he couldn't take him back to what was left of the city. The Rebels had become increasingly fearful of strangers. It seems they had killed several others." It made Cade think of the other people missing from years ago that Eddie had found. "So he decided to bring him here. Tim says Eric brought blankets, water and food here for him. When a few more kids had shown up Eric decided to stay here with them. He was already sick so none of the others would wonder where he disappeared to. He tried to make sure they were ok. As much as he could anyway." Pride colored her smile lightly when she looked at him. "He was a good kid."

He wanted to ask but he couldn't make the words form the question in his head. He didn't have to.

"It's the air," she told him. "They all die young here. The Gua did something to the air before they wiped out everyone who wasn't in hiding then tainted as much as they could. The air, the water, the ground. The Rebels found ways to make the ground and water at least useable, but not the air."

He didn't want to think how she had come to know the information. With one last look at the cave he asked, "We forget anything?"

Raine smiled as the kids lined up in twos. Younger kids had older ones in front of and behind them. She hoped they could keep them together in the sand. The sounds that had risen in the short time they had been here indicted the wind had picked up considerably. Moving to each pair she wrapped a blanket around them, taking care to cover their heads and as much of their bodies as possible. "Remember to hang on tight," she told the youngest, "It will help keep the sand out of your eyes." As she passed each by, she paused briefly to touch each of them. Cade had the feeling she was sticking some kind of mental beacon on them in case they were separated. The small flow of blood she wiped from her nose with the bottom edge of her shirt confirmed it for him.

When they had all been covered and marked she clapped her hands together once. "Ok guys, is everyone ready?" The kids all cheered their eagerness to leave this desolate place. "Ok then. Remember to stay together." A look to Foster had him moving to the rear of the group. "Time to go home guys."

*******

The blue sparks had become erratic as Eddie set up his laptop to download as much from the mainframe computer as he could. Since the writing didn't tell them all they needed to know, he hoped something in the files would. Jordan paced, keeping an eye on the bolts of electricity that jumped across the silver sphere.

"Almost done," he told her, his voice causing her to jump. 

"How are we going to shut it down?" she asked.

"Hopefully we can find a shut down from here. If not we may just have to blow it." He looked at her. "Here's hoping that works."

She studied the sphere as Eddie clicked at the keys on the keyboard. "I was thinking" she started, her thoughts coming into focus slowly. "It looks to be some kind of electricity right?"

He looked up from his typing and nodded. "Seems like a fair assumption."

"If we reversed the flow, wouldn't that cause it to short?"

"If it's AC current then, in theory, yeah. But actually reversing the flow is easier said than done, why?"

"I got a plan," she told him after a moment of consideration. "You don't think that generator is a human creation do you?"

"No," he admitted. "The sphere looks a little too much like the essence spheres to suit me. Could be wrong, but"

"I was thinking the same thing," she confessed.

The laptop beeped at them and Eddie unhooked it quickly. Blue flared from the direction of the alien generator and they paused.

"Looks like we're running out of time."

Jordan frowned but couldn't argue with that. "They're not back yet." 

It was a fact he was well aware of. He was also very aware that if they didn't shut the whole thing down soon it might open a portal that was big enough to swallow the whole town. The hourglass was dumping sand fast. They looked at each other and Jordan nodded. She knew it as well.

"We'll give them another five minutes," Eddie said. He hoped like hell his best friend would call him before then. He didn't want to have to blow the power source before they got out, but he would.

"Five minutes," she echoed as they headed back down the rows of blinking lights.

*******

Lightning split the sky ahead of them and they stopped in the blowing sand. Raine frowned and Cade moved from the back of the group to stand at her side.

"What is it?" he asked softly.

"Not sure." He felt it as the stillness surrounded her, then a brush against the back of his head as she reached out. After half a minute she let out a soft curse. "It's becoming more volatile. We're running out of time."

"Can we make it?" he questioned seriously.

"I don't know," she replied honestly. "All we can do is try."

He nodded and she started forward again, the children moving behind her. When they passed him he fell in line. The sand bit into his skin like stinging wasps and he silently wished he and Raine had blankets to help shield them as well. Desperately he tried to ignore that his irritation at the discomfort was just a distraction to the panic he felt at the possibility they'd be stuck here.

Spears of light cut across the sky again. This time a clap of thunder loud enough it shook his bones sounded just after the light faded. They were only a hundred yards for the place they had been spit out into the sand. There were no marks to let them know, but the spot was tattooed on his brain. He couldn't forget it if he tried.

When they reached the spot, Raine hesitantly held a hand out and breathed a sigh of relief when her hand disappeared through the veil of the portal.

"Ok guys, time to go."

Just then lightning fractured the sky again and she was thrown back away from the gateway.

*******

Both of them looked nervously at the glowing sphere. Bolts of electricity shot up from it, no longer adhering strictly to the metal object.

"It's been five minutes," Jordan said quietly. "We've got to kill it."

"I know," Eddie admitted reluctantly. _Come on Cade_, he thought desperately, _I can't just leave you there._

"Give me that meter you had earlier," she directed. When he did she tore her attention away from the orb long enough to work the rubber grip off the handle. She handed the metal box back to the hacker and took a step forward.

"Careful," was the warning, "it might jump."

"Really hoping I don't give it the chance." 

Twenty seconds passed before the glow faded and the ball was silent. She moved close then, touching the metal with the hollow rubber handle. Gingerly she coaxed the sphere to turn like a ball in a mouse until it had rolled a complete 180. Just as she started to move away the globe flashed to life. Electricity shot outward and sent her flying back. She slammed into one of the metal casings, her head impacting with a loud thump.

Eddie was by her side in only a second. Carefully but quickly he helped her rise. The charges were now jumping from the sphere to everything in the room. Sparks started flying as blinking lights blew. Florescent lights popped above them, the room growing rapidly darker. He scooped her up, wrapping an arm around her waist. He paused only long enough to grab the laptop he had dropped before he ushered her towards the door.

Another loud pop and a crashing sound came from behind them as they fled through the door.

*******

"NO!" she screamed as the streaks of light faded and the portal crackled closed. Panic rushed in as the floodgates of control were pulled back. The thought of being stuck here had terrified her before she had even known the things that had happened in this place. Now it sent her over the edge.

Eyes began to glow violet and Cade felt the stir of an energy born wind around him. Sand fell to the ground as the created wind crashed against the natural one. He gathered the children in a group and urged them close to the ground.

"Stay here," he shouted over the noise.

"Are we stuck?" asked a young girl with tears welling in her eyes. He thought it might be the young girl the teacher had witnessed disappear. 

He looked at Raine and knew the answer. "No," he assured her, "I don't think that's going to happen."

The air around her flickered with violet light. Sparks of purple danced between her fingers. Energy swelled and he was reminded of the first time she had touched the Quantam Pocket. A glowing hand shot out. Brilliant sparks of blue and plum flared at the point of contact. They shot around her and into the sand, the spots they hit taking on a strange sheen. It took him a few seconds to realize those spots had become pieces of glass.

The bolts of blue and violet began to crawl up her arm and over her shoulder. Then they spilled down her body and he knew the instant they touched the scar left by the bullet. A connection he would never be able to fully understand or explain opened between them and he could feel everything as she did. 

The energy gathered in their body, infusing everything it could reach with it. It rose higher, the charge prickling along their skin. Both their hearts began an arrhythmia as the current grew further. Breath stuttered in lungs. Toes and fingers began to curl, the muscles confusing the charge with a more natural one. Then she began to control it. To shape it into something more useful. Static left the extremities, flowing back up. Hearts jumped one more time before assuming their normal beating patterns. It crept back down their arm. When it felt as if it could be contained no more she hurled it, slammed it into that place the barrier had risen.

Lavender lightning ripped across the sky, tearing a hole in the very fabric of reality. Starting off as only the size of her outstretched hand it grew rapidly. Deep amethyst light swirled and churned with lilac light. The radiance wavered then snapped into place and steadied.

Raine dropped to the ground. 

*******

They ran. Stone had begun to fall and tremors ran through the walls and floor around them. Jordan had steadied enough to run on her own without his help and he was thankful. They could move faster that way.

Sliding around the corner, Jordan nearly lost control. His quick reflexes kept her from slamming into the opposite wall due to inertia alone. The numbers were slightly luminous up ahead and she silently prayed they were the right ones.

"Bout time," she ground out, not breaking stride as she moved up the ladder as fast as her body would take her. 

When she reached the top, she threw herself to the side. Plastic scraped against concrete as he shoved the computer ahead just before he cleared the hole. Neither took any time to speak preferring running for their lives to talk. Bits of ceiling rained down on them as they sprinted up the stairs towards the basement door. Wood cracked and the doorframe split. Like they were fueled by an explosion, the splinters of timber flew towards them. Jordan swore as one drew blood on her forehead. Eddie batted some from his face receiving one through the webbing of his thumb and index finger for his trouble.

They cleared the doorway and slipped on the debris in the slick hallway. Tucking heads down they ran full out for the glass doors that led outside. Bursting through, she tripped, rolled and somehow managed to jump back to her feet. Glass shattered behind them and the bricks of the building began to come down. They stopped at a safe distance and turned to look. Fire had started somewhere and was now raging through the structure, tongues of it flickering out of broken windows.

Both drew rapid panting breaths.

"How are we going to find them?" Jordan finally managed, her hands on her knees as she made a concentrated effort to control her breathing.

"I don't know," Eddie gasped. 

Words were cut off as the breeze came to life around them. Searching for the source of the sudden wind, they both turned, searching the night for a clue to its origin. A blink of pale lilac light flared then faded away. Eddie grabbed Jordan's arm.

"There!" He yelled over the wind pointing to their left.

She saw it then. Another flash of purple light. This time it stayed, growing bigger with each passing second. Shades of purple swirled together and flashes of static skimmed across it.

"Raine," Eddie said as the portal steadied.

*******

He rushed to her side and gathered her in his arms. Memories of that day in the woods, her life's blood draining from her, inundated his brain. Screaming her name he turned towards the portal. The sight of the kids huddled against the sand brought him from the edge of panic. Looking at the kids, he started to speak, but Tim and Johnny had already taken charge. They gathered them all together by pairs as they had been before.

"Do we go through now?" Tim asked fearfully. 

Cade started to answer but he didn't know exactly what to say. Without her awake to tell him, he had no way of knowing if Raine had succeeded. Then Jordan stepped through the portal and saved him from having to say anything. Blood stained her forehead and had run down her cheek but it appeared to be a small wound. Quickly assessing the situation, she offered a smile to the kids.

"Ok guys," she said cheerfully, "We need to hurry. Uncle Eddie is on the other side waiting for you guys."

Tim nodded and pushed the first pair of young children towards the portal. "It's ok," he told them. "We're going home."

"She ok?" Jordan asked Cade as she ushered another pair of kids towards the portal.

"I think so. She spent a lot of energy forcing it back open."

The red head said no more. With a nod she smiled again at the remaining kids and helped them through. Tim was the last of them left and when he was gone Cade walked through with Jordan, carrying Raine in his arms.

*******

Red and blue lights flashed brightly in the night. The beacons spun hurriedly across trees and playground equipment.

They sat in the swings. She looked like she might fall over at any second, but somehow she had managed to keep moving.

"What did you tell them?" he questioned quietly.

"That you were a private investigator friend of mine. That I wanted back up I could count on even if things got weird." Her voice was distorted and congested sounding.

"You told them I was a PI?" The thought made him laugh. He imagined himself with a long trench coat and a stylish fedora hat.

"It's mostly true. You investigate things" Her tone was a little defensive. She pulled the Kleenex from her nose and let out a soft ick. Her voice was mostly normal again when she continued. "I just didn't tell them what kind of things."

"I can stay if you want," he offered again even though they had already gone over it.

"No, you can't," she reminded him. "You and Eddie are jumpy as hell and if you stick around someone might start to wonder. I tried to take care of things here, but I might have missed something. We can't risk it. Not yet."

Even though he agreed he wanted to argue. Wanted to tell her he wouldn't let her slip away again. She kept nearly dying on him. But he didn't. Instead he tried to accept that her mission wasn't done.

"I know," he finally admitted. "I don't want to leave you alone."

"I'll be fine Cade," she assured him. "Nose seems to have stopped bleeding. Nothing else is hurt. A bit tired." Tired was the understatement of the century.

"Could you do it again?"

A slight shrug of a shoulder. "Don't know," she acknowledged. "Probably not from nothing. The energy was there. It was fading, but it was there. I just acted like a lightning rod for it. Gathered it as much as I could then sent it back. Tried to focus on Jordan and Eddie to make sure we ended up in the right place."

"It worked thank God," he said in a breath.

"Yeah."

"The kids are home?"

"Most of them."

"What are they saying?"

"Not much. Their stories are coming out quite jumbled and fantastical."

"Not surprising."

Silence fell between them. He had a million things he wanted to say to her but somehow he couldn't make sense of them in his own mind. She rose from the swing and he rose with her.

"I-" he tried but nothing more would come.

Raine smiled slightly and shrugged. "It's just the way it is sometimes Foster. But hey, the sex was damn good." She looked at the still smoldering daycare and sighed. "You need to go. They're going to want to talk to me some more soon."

Hands slid across her skin and cupped the sides of her face. Pale violet eyes looked at him. His aura rushed over her and she shivered. The kiss was gentle, full of unspoken emotion. When he broke the kiss, she nearly begged him to stay. Somehow she managed to hold her tongue.

"I'll find you guys again soon," she promised.

"We've got stuff to talk about," he reminded her.

"Yeah, we do."

One hand slid into her hair and pulled her forehead to his. The other slid down her arm and pressed something into her hand.

"I'll see you soon," he said softly.

She said nothing as he stepped away from her. He gave her one last look then turned on a heel and walk away. The sun broke the horizon as he reached the edge of the demolished building. Watching until he was gone she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

Ever so slowly she raised her hand so she could look at the object she held in her palm. The metal was warm and his aura clung to it which sent shooting tingles up her arm. Light flared on the edge of the band as the sun rose slightly higher and cast a beam of light on it. Swallowing hard, she closed her hand tightly around it. The wedding ring dug into her palm.

The ring slid onto her thumb as she made her way towards the flashing lights.

August 2002


End file.
